title: Pattern of antibiotic use in the community: νon-adherence and self-prescription rates in an Italian urban population.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess the pattern of antibiotic use in a community setting of an urban area of Italy and identify factors that affect adherence to their use. By using a questionnaire-based survey, we collected 1,269 interviews and performed analysis on those patients who had their last course of antibiotic within the past 12 months (956 subjects). Among the subjects reporting that they had not followed their last antibiotic course as prescribed, 14.7% stopped therapy early, 5.4% modified the dosage, and 5% changed the prescribed antibiotic. Approximately 23% of the subjects declared that they self-prescribed antibiotics. After adjusting for all covariates, major predictors for the self-prescription of antibiotics were younger age, female gender and higher socioeconomic and educational status. Conversely, both low educational and socioeconomic status were associated with a higher risk of non-adherence to physician indications. The findings of this study assessed the widespread pattern of poor antibiotic-taking behavior and provides important implications for understanding the targets of future educational campaigns to control the use and misuse of antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Department G.F. Ingrassia, Hygiene and Public Health, University of Catania, Ι-95123 Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grosso
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marventano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferranti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mistretta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents