Assessment of Prescribing Practices and Factors Related to Antibiotic Prescribing in Community Pharmacies
<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Overprescribing of antibiotics is one of the important contributors of antimicrobial resistance globally. A high proportion of antibiotics prescribed in community settings are unnecessary or inappropriate. This study assesses the prescribing practices an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Medicina |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/5/843 |
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| author | Syed Arman Rabbani Sathvik B. Sridhar Maryam Safdar Padma G. M. Rao Ammar Ali Saleh Jaber Mohammad M. AlAhmad Khaled Shaar Israa Emad Muhammad Abdul Azim |
| author_facet | Syed Arman Rabbani Sathvik B. Sridhar Maryam Safdar Padma G. M. Rao Ammar Ali Saleh Jaber Mohammad M. AlAhmad Khaled Shaar Israa Emad Muhammad Abdul Azim |
| author_sort | Syed Arman Rabbani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Background and Objectives</i>: Overprescribing of antibiotics is one of the important contributors of antimicrobial resistance globally. A high proportion of antibiotics prescribed in community settings are unnecessary or inappropriate. This study assesses the prescribing practices and factors related to antibiotic prescribing in community pharmacies in United Arab Emirates (UAE). <i>Materials and Methods</i>: A cross-sectional study utilizing a quantitative approach was carried out in the community pharmacies of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE. Six hundred and thirty prescription encounters from 21 randomly selected community pharmacies were investigated using World Health Organization (WHO) core prescribing indicators. Factors related to antibiotic prescribing were identified using logistic regression analyses. <i>Results</i>: In 630 prescription encounters, a total of 1814 drugs were prescribed. Out of these, the most commonly prescribed drug class was antibiotics (43.8% prescriptions) and the antibiotic was amoxicillin/clavulanic-acid (22.4%). The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.88, which was higher than the WHO recommended value of 1.6–1.8. In addition, more than half of the prescriptions (58.6%) had drugs by generic names and the majority of the drugs prescribed (83.8%) were from the essential drug list, which were lower than the optimal values of 100%. The majority of the antibiotics prescribed in the study were from the WHO’s Access group antibiotics. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified patient age (children—OR: 7.40, 95% CI: 2.32–23.62, <i>p</i> = 0.001 and adolescent—OR: 5.86, 95% CI: 1.57–21.86, <i>p</i> = 0.008), prescriber qualification as general practitioner (OR: 1.84, 95% CI:1.30–2.60, <i>p</i> = 0.001), and number of drugs per prescription (OR: 3.51, 95% CI: 1.98–6.21, <i>p</i> < 0.001) as independent factors associated with antibiotic prescribing. <i>Conclusions</i>: This study reveals considerable variations from the WHO recommendations for the different prescribing indicators in the community pharmacies of RAK, UAE. In addition, the study reports overprescribing of antibiotics in the community setting, indicating the need for interventions to promote rational use of antibiotics in a community setting. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:31:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ebf459a531264c13a448d81eae0e280d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1010-660X 1648-9144 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:31:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Medicina |
| spelling | doaj.art-ebf459a531264c13a448d81eae0e280d2023-11-18T02:21:02ZengMDPI AGMedicina1010-660X1648-91442023-04-0159584310.3390/medicina59050843Assessment of Prescribing Practices and Factors Related to Antibiotic Prescribing in Community PharmaciesSyed Arman Rabbani0Sathvik B. Sridhar1Maryam Safdar2Padma G. M. Rao3Ammar Ali Saleh Jaber4Mohammad M. AlAhmad5Khaled Shaar6Israa Emad7Muhammad Abdul Azim8Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, RAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah P.O. Box 11172, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, RAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah P.O. Box 11172, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, RAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah P.O. Box 11172, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, RAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah P.O. Box 11172, United Arab EmiratesDubai Pharmacy College for Girls, Dubai P.O. Box 19099, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 64141, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, RAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah P.O. Box 11172, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, RAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah P.O. Box 11172, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, RAK College of Pharmacy, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah P.O. Box 11172, United Arab Emirates<i>Background and Objectives</i>: Overprescribing of antibiotics is one of the important contributors of antimicrobial resistance globally. A high proportion of antibiotics prescribed in community settings are unnecessary or inappropriate. This study assesses the prescribing practices and factors related to antibiotic prescribing in community pharmacies in United Arab Emirates (UAE). <i>Materials and Methods</i>: A cross-sectional study utilizing a quantitative approach was carried out in the community pharmacies of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), UAE. Six hundred and thirty prescription encounters from 21 randomly selected community pharmacies were investigated using World Health Organization (WHO) core prescribing indicators. Factors related to antibiotic prescribing were identified using logistic regression analyses. <i>Results</i>: In 630 prescription encounters, a total of 1814 drugs were prescribed. Out of these, the most commonly prescribed drug class was antibiotics (43.8% prescriptions) and the antibiotic was amoxicillin/clavulanic-acid (22.4%). The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.88, which was higher than the WHO recommended value of 1.6–1.8. In addition, more than half of the prescriptions (58.6%) had drugs by generic names and the majority of the drugs prescribed (83.8%) were from the essential drug list, which were lower than the optimal values of 100%. The majority of the antibiotics prescribed in the study were from the WHO’s Access group antibiotics. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified patient age (children—OR: 7.40, 95% CI: 2.32–23.62, <i>p</i> = 0.001 and adolescent—OR: 5.86, 95% CI: 1.57–21.86, <i>p</i> = 0.008), prescriber qualification as general practitioner (OR: 1.84, 95% CI:1.30–2.60, <i>p</i> = 0.001), and number of drugs per prescription (OR: 3.51, 95% CI: 1.98–6.21, <i>p</i> < 0.001) as independent factors associated with antibiotic prescribing. <i>Conclusions</i>: This study reveals considerable variations from the WHO recommendations for the different prescribing indicators in the community pharmacies of RAK, UAE. In addition, the study reports overprescribing of antibiotics in the community setting, indicating the need for interventions to promote rational use of antibiotics in a community setting.https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/5/843antibioticsantimicrobial resistanceprescribing practicescommunity pharmaciesUnited Arab Emirates |
| spellingShingle | Syed Arman Rabbani Sathvik B. Sridhar Maryam Safdar Padma G. M. Rao Ammar Ali Saleh Jaber Mohammad M. AlAhmad Khaled Shaar Israa Emad Muhammad Abdul Azim Assessment of Prescribing Practices and Factors Related to Antibiotic Prescribing in Community Pharmacies Medicina antibiotics antimicrobial resistance prescribing practices community pharmacies United Arab Emirates |
| title | Assessment of Prescribing Practices and Factors Related to Antibiotic Prescribing in Community Pharmacies |
| title_full | Assessment of Prescribing Practices and Factors Related to Antibiotic Prescribing in Community Pharmacies |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of Prescribing Practices and Factors Related to Antibiotic Prescribing in Community Pharmacies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of Prescribing Practices and Factors Related to Antibiotic Prescribing in Community Pharmacies |
| title_short | Assessment of Prescribing Practices and Factors Related to Antibiotic Prescribing in Community Pharmacies |
| title_sort | assessment of prescribing practices and factors related to antibiotic prescribing in community pharmacies |
| topic | antibiotics antimicrobial resistance prescribing practices community pharmacies United Arab Emirates |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/59/5/843 |
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