Prescribing patterns of antibiotics for children before admission to a paediatric ward in Jaffna Teaching Hospital

doi: 10.4038/sljch.v38i4.1390

Abstract

 

Antibiotics are commonly prescribed drugs in paediatrics. However, the threat of antibiotic resistance among children is a cause for concern. A study of the administration patterns of antibiotics prior to admission was carried out on children admitted to a paediatric ward of Teaching Hospital, Jaffna from June to August 2008, using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Descriptive and basic statistical tests were used to analyse the data. The total number of admissions to the ward was 420 out of which 227 (54%) had been given antibiotics prior to admission. Of this, 53 (23%) were infants. Of the entire cohort, oral antibiotics were given to 214 (94%) and 47 (22%) of them were given two or more antibiotics. Amoxicillin (48%), erythromycin (20%) and cephalexin (16%) were the antibiotics commonly prescribed. Sixty three percent were prescribed antibiotics by general practitioners and 16% were given antibiotics without consulting a doctor. Only 53 (23%) of the parents knew the name and the side-effects of the antibiotics used on the children. Hospital stay was significantly more for children given prior antibiotics than for those who did not have prior antibiotics (14% against 8% p less than 0.05).  Other medications had been administered to 298 (71%). In order to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistance of microbes, an antibiotic policy should be carefully instituted and implemented.