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 Original Articles |
| Antibiotics in the Medications Prescribed by Pharmacists for the Management of Upper Respiratory Infections |
| Jong Lull Yoon, Mee Young Kim, and Moon Hyun Chung* |
| Department of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine* Hallym University |
Vol.16 Num.1 (p33~42)
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Background : Upper respiratory infections (URIs) are the most common infection in developed countries and are a major cause of prescribing medications, including antibiotics Its magnitude result in frequent. sometimes serious, side effects. considerable economic burden and antimicrobial resistance In Korea, pharmacists can prescribe without any restriction even with antibiotics and glucocorticoids, and therefore, prescriptions for URI will be different from those of other developed countries The objective of this study is to investigate the rate of antibiotic prescription by pharmacists and differences in prescribing patterns by different areas.
Methods : From November 1996 to February 1997, me were prescribed medications for relief of two simulating illnesses, common cold (rhinorrhea of one day's duration without fever) or possible pneumonia (fever and cough) by visiting drug stores in three cities(Seoul, Chonan, Chunchun) Contents of prescriptions were identified by a pharmacist in a University Hospital, which were confirmed by telephone to the drugstores.
Results : One hundred twenty-five drugstores m three cities were surveyed. The mean number of medication was 32(SD 1.88), and was significantly different between Seoul and the other two cities (Þ<0.001) Twenty-four (19.2%) prescription contained antimicrobial agents and there was also significant geographic difference; 33.3% in Chonan, 31.4% in Chunchun and 5.0% in Seoul (Þ<0.001). Another factor predicting the presence of antibiotics was the number of mediations, i.e., antibiotics were not included in 1-2 medications prescribed, but 50.0% included antibiotics in 7-9 medications prescribed(Þ=0.001).
List of antibiotics was amoxicillin (16), tetracycline/doxycycline (5), chloramphenicol (2), and erythromycin (1). Glucocorticoids (prednisolon, betamethasone) were contained in 8 prescriptions and various antipyretics were included.
Conclusion : Antimicrobial agents were contained in the prescriptions for URI at high rates with occasional chloramphenicol. Considering the benign self-limited nature of URL, measures to reduce the prescription of antibiotics, glucocorticoids and relatively toxic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are needed.
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Keywords : Upper respiratory infection, Antibiotics Pharmacist |
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