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The regional profile of antibiotic prescriptions in Italian outpatient children

  • Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription
  • Published:
European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate paediatric antibiotic prescription patterns in Italy in an extra-hospital setting at the national, regional, and Local Health Unit (LHU) level.

Methods

Data sources were regional prescription databases. Eight Italian regions participated in the study providing data for the year 2008, with two exceptions (where the data for 2009 and 2006 were provided instead). A total of 4,828,569 children were included: 58% of the Italian population under 15 years old. Antibiotic prevalence rates, prescription rates and prescriptions distribution by class were evaluated at the regional and LHU levels. The correlation among mean latitude, Human Development Index (HDI), hospitalisation rate, satisfaction index for the National Health Service, number of paediatricians per 1,000 resident children and prevalence rate was evaluated by regions.

Results

The estimated pooled average prevalence rate was 50.5% (95%CI 45.7–55.3). Between-regions prevalence rates ranged from 42.6% to 62.1% and at the LHU level they ranged from 35.6% to 68.5%. There was a trend indicating that in southern regions antibiotics are more frequently prescribed than in the northern and central regions (Cochrane–Armitage test Z = −187.5 p < 0.0001). Overall, penicillin covered 53.1% of antibiotic prescriptions, with differences between regions ranging from 39.2% to 62.5%. A direct correlation was found between the prevalence rate and HDI (p = 0.031), while an inverse correlation was found with paediatricians per 1,000 resident children (p = 0.038).

Conclusions

We found that relevant differences exist between the northern and the southern part of the country, and the heterogeneity among LHUs is higher. The greater use of antibiotics in the southern regions is related to lower HDI and does not seems to be justified by the higher prevalence of infectious diseases.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the “Antibiotic Collaborative Group” for their helpful collaboration. We are grateful to Chiara Pandolfini for language editing.

Financial Disclosure

The authors have indicated that they have no personal financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to Daniele Piovani.

Additional information

Antibiotic Collaborative Group:

Italian National Institute of Health: Roberto Da Cas, Giuseppe Traversa

Lombardy Region: Angela Bortolotti, Ida Fortino, Luca Merlino

Veneto Region: Roberta Joppi, Luca Trentin

Piedmont Region: Iolanda Davletbaiev, Cristiana Pellegri

Emilia Romagna Region: Rossella Buttazzi, Carlo Gagliotti, Maria Luisa Moro, Angelo Pan

Umbria Region: Mariangela Rossi

Lazio Region: Francesco Chini, Marina Davoli, Letizia Orzella

Abruzzo Region: Antonio D’Ettorre, Stefania Melena, Marilena Romero

Puglia Region: Ambrogio Aquilino, Francesco Bux, Vito Lepore

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Piovani, D., Clavenna, A., Cartabia, M. et al. The regional profile of antibiotic prescriptions in Italian outpatient children. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 68, 997–1005 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-011-1204-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00228-011-1204-3

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