title: Prescribed antibiotic use in Australian children aged 0-12 years.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Children are commonly prescribed antibiotics; however, little is known about the extent of their use.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to examine the current use of medicines in Australian children by using a large national dataset, with a special focus on antibiotics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The method for this study included a longitudinal study using the 10% random sample from the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) data. Children aged 0-12 years who were dispensed medicine(s) in 2013 were included, and prescribing patterns were reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Population rates for children with at least one systemic antibiotic in 2013 were found to be 49% for those aged 0-4 years, 44% for those aged 5-9 years, and 33% for those aged 10-12 years. More than half (53%) of the children received single antibiotic dispensing, and the majority (71%) had no comorbid condition. Most of the time, antibiotics were dispensed without any other medicines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high level of antibiotic use in children imposes the need to educate children and parents of the appropriate place of antibiotics in healthcare.
authors.affiliation: PhD, is Research Fellow, Quality Use of Medicines and Pharmacy Research Centre, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, The University of South Australia.
authors.forename: Svetla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gadzhanova
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Roughead
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents