title: Acute sore throat in children at the emergency department: best medical practice?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Belgian antibiotic (AB) policy guidelines discourage the use of ABs in sore throat in otherwise healthy individuals; yet, 35% of all children with sore throat in our pediatric emergency department receive a prescription for ABs.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify factors influencing our physician's prescription behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a retrospective study, we analyzed all medical records of children younger than 16 years of age diagnosed with sore throat (in 2009 and 2010). We included 1345 files.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children younger than 5 years of age received an AB prescription more easily (37.8 vs. 27.7%; P=0.0007). Children of White origin received less frequent ABs compared with non-Whites (31.6 vs. 37.8%; P=0.02). More ABs were prescribed during night shifts (38.7 vs. 31.8%; P=0.008). Physicians with a Belgian degree prescribed less frequently compared with those with a Dutch degree (23.4 vs. 46.4%; P<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We find several 'practical' factors to have an influence on the AB prescription rate.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Emergency and Disaster Medicine bDepartment of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery cDepartment of Microbiology, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Jette, Belgium.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Roggen
authors.forename: Gerlant
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Berlaer
authors.forename: Frans
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gordts
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pierard
authors.forename: Ives
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hubloue
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001530:Belgium; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents