Antibiotic Prescription Trends Among the Paediatric Population Admitted in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Rawalpindi

Abstract

Objective: To demonstrate the antibiotic usage and trends among paediatric patients admitted to the tertiary care hospital of Rawalpindi. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Paediatric In-Patient Department of two Tertiary Care Hospitals, in Rawalpindi Pakistan, from May to Dec 2021. Methodology: After rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria, 395 admitted patients of the paediatric ward were included in the study from two tertiary care hospitals in Rawalpindi through simple random sampling. Results: A total of 395 patients were included; the mean age was 3.35±4.07 months, ranging from 0 to 45 months. 132(33.4%) patients from Hospital-A and 263(66.6%) from Hospital-B. Out of 395 patients, 35(8.7%) patients were given no Antibiotic, 240(60.8%) were given one antibiotic, 84(21.3%) patients were given two antibiotics, 33(8.3%) patients were given three antibiotics and 3(0.9%) patients were given four antibiotics. Of 360, 340(94.4 %) were given IV antibiotics, and 20(5.6%) were advised oral antibiotics. Conclusion: The youngest children received the most antibiotic prescriptions, progressively decreasing as they aged. irrational use of antibiotics is a significant risk factor to cause antimicrobial resistance.

Keywords

• Antimicrobial resistance
• Single and combination antibiotic use
• Third-generation cephalosporin