AbstractOveruse of antibiotics among patients with upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is a worldwide problem, and the problem is especially serious in developing countries, such as China. This systematic review is aimed at summarizing previous findings on outpatient prescriptions of antibiotics associated with URTI in China in order to help policymakers and the public understand and tackle the problem.We systematically searched and reviewed studies of antibiotic prescribing patterns for outpatients with URTI in China that were published in Chinese or English before December 31, 2014. The study quality was assessed, and the overall rates of URTI cases prescribed antibiotics were calculated by using random-effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity among studies.We included 45 eligible studies with a total of 52,072 URTI outpatients. The overall percentage of URTI outpatients prescribed antibiotics was 83.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 80.6%–86.4%). Of the URTI outpatients prescribed antibiotics, 79.7% (95% CI: 72.8%–85.2%) were prescribed 1 antibiotic, 18.4% (95% CI: 13.6%–24.5%) prescribed 2 antibiotics, and 1.1% (95% CI: 0.7%–1.6%) prescribed 3 or more antibiotics. The rates of antibiotic prescription varied greatly across hospitals and showed a downward trend over time.An extremely high percentage of URTI patients in China were prescribed antibiotics and, the overuse is especially problematic in lower-level hospitals. Although there appears a downward trend, likely attributable to China's recent efforts in curbing antibiotic abuse, greater efforts are needed to promote the rational use of antibiotics.
A Systematic Review of Antibiotic Prescription Associated With Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in China
Jing Li,Xingyue Song,Tingting Yang,Yawen Chen,Yanhong Gong,Xiaoxv Yin,Zuxun Lu
Published 2016 in Medicine
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2016
- Venue
Medicine
- Publication date
2016-05-01
- Fields of study
Medicine
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- antibiotic overuse
Use of antibiotics beyond what is considered rational or necessary for URTI care.
Aliases: overuse of antibiotics
- antibiotic prescription
The act of prescribing one or more antibiotic medications to URTI outpatients in the reviewed studies.
Aliases: antibiotic prescribing, antibiotic use
- china
The country in which the reviewed outpatient URTI antibiotic-prescribing studies were conducted.
Aliases: Chinese
- hospital level
The classification of hospitals by level, used here to compare prescribing patterns across healthcare facilities.
Aliases: lower-level hospitals
- multiple-antibiotic prescribing
Prescribing more than one antibiotic to the same URTI outpatient episode.
Aliases: two antibiotics, three or more antibiotics
- outpatient
A patient treated without hospital admission, which is the care setting for the included URTI cases.
Aliases: outpatients, ambulatory patient
- systematic review
A literature review approach that searches, selects, and synthesizes prior studies using defined criteria.
Aliases: review
- temporal trend
A change in antibiotic-prescribing rate across study years or over time.
Aliases: downward trend over time
- upper respiratory tract infection
An infection affecting the upper parts of the respiratory tract, used here as the patient condition under review.
Aliases: URTI, upper respiratory tract infections
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