Evaluation Of Antibiotic Prescribing Trends, Knowledge, Self-Confidence And Impact Of Educational Intervention On Improving Antibiotic Prescribing In Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (Urtis) At Kota Setar District Public Health Clinics, Malaysia

Penambahbaikan dalam amalan penggunaan antibiotik dalam penjagaan primer merupakan satu tugas yang mencabar. Dalam konteks ini, pengamal perubatan di Malaysia perlu diberi pendidikan tentang penggunaan ejen-ejen ini secara rasional. Improving antimicrobial use practice in primary care is a challenging task. Within this context, primary care practitioners in Malaysia need to be well educated on rational prescribing of these agents

Prescribing patterns for upper respiratory tract infections : a prescription-review of primary care practice in Kedah, Malaysia and the implications

Introduction and aims: It is necessary to ascertain current prescribing of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) to address potential overuse. A retrospective analysis was conducted of all prescriptions for URTIs among ten public primary healthcare centres in Kedah, Malaysia from 1st January to 31st March 2014. Results: A total of 123,524 prescriptions were screened and analysed. Of these, 7129 prescriptions were for URTI, with 31.8% (n=2269) containing antibiotics. Macrolides were the most commonly prescribed antibiotic constituting 61% (n=1403) of total antibiotics prescribed. There was a statistically significant association between different prescribers and diagnoses (p=0•001) and a weak positive trend suggesting family medicine specialists are more competent in antibiotic prescribing, followed by medical officers and assistant medical officers (τ=0•122).. Conclusions: Prescribing practices of some prescribers were inconsistent with current guidelines encouraging resistance development. National antimicrobial stewardship programmes and further educational initiatives are ongoing in Malaysia to improve antibiotic us