PRESCRIPTIONS OF ANTIBIOTICS FOR CHILDREN - PRESCRIBING HABITS OF DISTRICT, HOSPITAL, AND PRIVATE PHYSICIANS

Objective - To study how different categories of physicians prescribe antibiotics for children with respiratory tract infections. Design - P rescriptions of antibiotics for children less than 15 years of age wer e registered at the pharmacies in the municipality of Vaxjo during the month of March from 1990 to 1993. Subjects - Three categories of phys icians were studied: district, hospital, and private. They made 3047 p rescriptions for one of the following groups of antibiotics: penicilli n V, ampicillin derivatives, erythromycin or other macrolides, and per oral cephalosporins. Main outcome measures - The choice and cost of dr ug for each physician category. The proportion of prescriptions made b y district physicians in relation to distance from town centre and doc tor density in local health centre. Results - The district physicians used penicillin V more frequently (70% of prescriptions) than the othe r categories of physicians (50% and 19%), but ampicillin derivatives a nd cephalosporins less frequently. District physicians had a lower cos t per prescription in general (SEK 92) than hospital physicians (SEK 1 10) and private physicians (SEK 175). The proportion of prescriptions issued by district physicians increased with increasing distance from the town centre and with higher doctor density in the local health cen tre. Conclusion - District physicians use more penicillin V, and have a lower cost per prescription, than other physicians. This might be du e to differing infectious disease panoramas, but can also reflect diff erences in practice and attitudes.