Antibiotics : public use and physicians' prescribing practice

الملخص EN

The worldwide spread of anti-microbial resistance has become a pre-eminent concern in medicine and public health.

The aim of the current study is to clarify the contributing role of physicians and patients in this problem.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total sample of 309 physicians and 542 lay persons.

The results revealed that 32.1% of the studied public didn't know what antibiotic is, 28.0% had wrong beliefs about it and 67.9% used antibiotics without prescription; private pharmacies were the major source (96.6%).

Easy accessibility to antibiotic was the single most powerful determinant of antibiotic use without prescription (partial F.=42.3).

The practice of asking physician for-antibiotic was recorded by 24.4%; of them 34.8% re-consult again when physician didn't prescribe it.

Knowledge about antibiotic was the most significant predictor for patients' compliance with treatment (partial F.

= 11.98).

The majority of studied physicians (96.1%) prescribed antibiotic without culture, most of them (64.1%) prescribed it without diagnostic certainty and 43.7%of prescription wasn't indicated (46.7% prophylacticaly and 26.7% due to patient pressure).

Antibiotic prescription for common cold was recorded among 66.9% of physicians and 31.1% prescribed antibiotics just to satisfy the patients; mainly to avoid negative effect on doctor-patient relationship (34.4%).

About one fifth (20.7%) of physicians were never educating patients about antibiotic use.

Broad-spectrum classes were often 8B always prescribed (31.1 and 35.9% respectively); physicians' specialty and graduation were the most important determinants for their selective use of antibiotics.

So patients and physicians must work together to ensure a more judicious use of antibiotics