Prescription of antimicrobial drugs to hospitalized children.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze with regard to age, gender, and diagnosis, the profile, frequency of prescribing, and cost of antimicrobial drugs (AMDs) in hospitalized children.


METHODS
Retrospective study of medical records of children hospitalized during 1987 and 1988.


METHODS
First Pediatric Clinic, Children's Teaching Hospital, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia).


METHODS
One thousand randomly selected hospitalized children.


METHODS
Patterns of AMD prescribing. Consumption is expressed by the number of drugs and cost per child.


RESULTS
AMDs were prescribed to 69.9 percent of the patients (average 1.91 per patient). Ampicillin was the drug most frequently prescribed (20.0 percent), followed by oxacillin (12.8 percent). The mean length of stay was 15.9 days. An average of 3.61 drugs from other pharmacotherapeutic categories were prescribed per patient. Most children who received AMD treatment were in the 1-year group (patients between six months and 1.5 years of age [88.6 percent]).


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides an overview of the prescribing of AMDs and other drugs in hospitalized children in Bratislava.
Kolár
J V
JV
Department of the Organization and Management of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, Czechoslovakia.
Kadáková
E
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000667:Ampicillin / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003604:Czechoslovakia; D016527:Drug Costs; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010068:Oxacillin / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000667:Ampicillin; D010068:Oxacillin