Table 2.
Antibiotic prescriptions and associated factors in primary care
| Overall | UCHCs | RTHs | p * | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antibiotic prescribing practices of individual physicians (Mean ± SD ) | ||||
| Percentage of prescriptions containing antibiotics (%) | 41.45 ± 20.13 | 39.55 ± 23.35 | 41.97 ± 19.15 | 0.066 |
| Percentage of prescriptions containing two or more antibiotics (%) | 10.23 ± 10.53 | 7.00 ± 9.82 | 11.12 ± 10.56 | < 0.001 |
| Number (%) of correct answers to antibiotic prescribing knowledge | ||||
| K1: Non-febrile diarrhea | 475 (95.19) | 102 (94.44) | 373 (95.40) | 0.682 |
| K2: Upper respiratory tract infections | 25 (5.01) | 3 (2.78) | 22 (5.63) | 0.320 |
| K3: Renal failure | 56 (11.22) | 8 (7.41) | 48 (12.28) | 0.156 |
| K4: Pregnant patients | 482 (96.59) | 104 (96.30) | 378 (96.68) | 0.770 |
| K5: Anaerobes | 485 (97.19) | 108 (100.00) | 377 (96.42) | 0.048 |
| K6: Methicillin resistant staphylococcus | 145 (29.06) | 35 (32.41) | 110 (28.13) | 0.386 |
| K7: Crossing the blood-brain barrier | 206 (41.28) | 50 (46.30) | 156 (39.90) | 0.232 |
| K8: Bacterial pneumonia | 232 (46.49) | 56 (51.85) | 176 (45.01) | 0.207 |
| K9: Reducing complications of upper respiratory tract infections | 263 (52.71) | 56 (51.85) | 207 (52.94) | 0.841 |
| K10: Administration of Aminoglycosides | 305 (61.12) | 69 (63.89) | 236 (60.36) | 0.505 |
| K11: Standards of antibiotic use in primary cares | 375 (75.15) | 93 (86.11) | 282 (72.12) | 0.003 |
| Summed knowledge score (Mean ± SD) | 6.11 ± 1.46 | 6.33 ± 1.42 | 6.04 ± 1.46 | 0.073 |
| Score of attitudes toward rational antibiotic prescribing (Mean ± SD) | ||||
| A1: Antibiotic resistance is a major public health problem in my setting | 3.02 ± 0.90 | 2.79 ± 1.01 | 3.09 ± 0.86 | 0.006 |
| A2: It is useful to wait for a microbiology result when treating infections | 3.34 ± 0.60 | 3.34 ± 0.66 | 3.34 ± 0.59 | 0.710 |
| A3: One antibiotic prescription does not influence the development of AR | 3.04 ± 0.82 | 2.98 ± 0.96 | 3.06 ± 0.78 | 0.781 |
| A4: New antibiotics will be created to solve AR problems | 1.54 ± 0.94 | 1.74 ± 1.07 | 1.48 ± 0.89 | 0.017 |
| A5: The use of antibiotics in animals is a major cause of AR | 2.60 ± 0.91 | 2.71 ± 0.81 | 2.57 ± 0.94 | 0.219 |
| A6: Broad-spectrum antibiotics are preferred for infections in doubt | 1.99 ± 1.02 | 2.22 ± 1.02 | 1.92 ± 1.01 | 0.007 |
| A7: Antibiotics are often prescribed for patients untrackable | 2.89 ± 0.96 | 3.05 ± 0.95 | 2.85 ± 0.96 | 0.035 |
| A8: It is best to prescribe antibiotics if bacterial infections are uncertain | 2.87 ± 0.83 | 3.01 ± 0.80 | 2.83 ± 0.84 | 0.042 |
| A9: Antibiotics are often prescribed due to patient demands | 2.86 ± 0.91 | 2.77 ± 0.88 | 2.88 ± 0.92 | 0.161 |
| A10: Patients will get antibiotics from a pharmacy even without my prescriptions | 1.19 ± 0.94 | 1.19 ± 0.96 | 1.20 ± 0.93 | 0.938 |
| A11: Amoxicillin is effective for most respiratory infections in primary care | 2.22 ± 1.01 | 2.25 ± 1.05 | 2.21 ± 1.00 | 0.737 |
| Summed attitudes score | 27.56 ± 3.46 | 28.05 ± 3.52 | 27.42 ± 3.43 | 0.097 |
| Perceived patient pressure (Mean ± SD) | ||||
| Percentage of patients expecting antibiotics | 54.91 ± 22.59 | 50.23 ± 21.48 | 56.20 ± 22.75 | 0.001 |
| Degree of impacts of patient expectation on antibiotic prescribing | 43.34 ± 26.41 | 40.74 ± 25.48 | 44.05 ± 26.64 | 0.204 |
| Total score of perceived patient pressure for antibiotics | 25.63 ± 21.41 | 22.22 ± 21.40 | 26.57 ± 21.47 | 0.026 |
| Time pressure (Mean ± SD) | ||||
| Length of consultant per visit (Minutes) | 10.58 ± 6.47 | 12.00 ± 6.91 | 10.18 ± 6.30 | 0.007 |
*Chi-square (fisher exact) tests for binary variables, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests for continuous variable without normal distribution and t tests for continuous variable with normal distribution; Boldface figures indicate the significant differences between physicians in UCHCs and those in RTHs