title: Factors affecting antibiotic prescribing pattern in pediatric practice.
abstract: To determine the proportion of children receiving antibiotics for common illnesses and to understand the antibiotic prescription ptern and factors influencing it, a cross sectional study was done among the private practitioners in Chennai, India 403 prescriptions by 40 physicians from selected health facilities were analyzed 79.9% of children with ARI (Acute respiratory infection) and ADD (Acute watery diarrhea) were prescribed antibiotics. Penicillins (43.9%) were the commonest antibiotic prescribed. Factors like postgraduate qualification, experience of physician, source and method of updating knowledge, inpatient practice setting and presence of fever influenced the antibiotic prescription.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Madras Medical College, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bharathiraja
authors.forename: Sivakumar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sridharan
authors.forename: Luke Ravi
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Chelliah
authors.forename: Saradha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suresh
authors.forename: Mangayarkarasi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Senguttuvan
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000188:drug therapy; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D010372:Pediatrics; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents