The prevalence of prescribing antibiotics by primary health care physicians in Turkey: A multi-centered survey

Objective: Antibiotics are widely used in the treatment of infections and for empirical treatment purposes. Despite this common consumption of antibiotics, it is difficult to state that antibiotics are chosen and used consciously. This study was planned to determine the prevalence of prescribing antibiotics in Turkey. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2003. The study was carried out in a total of 46 primary care health centers of the following cities; Central Anatolian, Western Anatolian, Eastern Anatolian regions. Results: Two hundred sixty seven physicians participated in the study, 38.9% (104) of which were women and 61.1% (163) were men. The proportion of antibiotic prescription was by 22,6%, and the most frequently chosen antibiotics were 15.6% (3301) Amoxycilline + Clavulanic acid (Amox/Clav), 15.1% (3184) Ampicilline + Sulbactam 12.84% (2711), respectively. When prescriptions with antibiotics were evaluated according to diagnosis, the most frequent diagnoses were found to be as follows: 53.3% (11430) Acute Upper Respiratory Infections, 16.4% (3516) Urinary Tract Infections. Conclusions: The findings of the study suggest that primary health care physicians most often prescribe for acute respiratory tract infections, and prescribe Amoxycilline + Clavunic the most. It may be argued that more extensive studies are needed in this field. (author)