Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10773/31002
Title: | Antibiotic dispensation without a prescription worldwide: a systematic review |
Author: | Batista, Ana Daniela Rodrigues, Daniela A. Figueiras, Adolfo Zapata-Cachafeiro, Maruxa Roque, Fátima Herdeiro, Maria Teresa |
Keywords: | Antibiotics Non-prescription antibiotic dispensing Pharmacy practice Self-medication |
Issue Date: | Nov-2020 |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Abstract: | Antibiotic resistance still remains a major global public health problem and the dispensing of antibiotics without a prescription at community pharmacies is an important driver of this. MEDLINE, Pubmed and EMBASE databases were used to search and identify studies reporting the dispensing of non-prescribed antibiotics in community pharmacies or drugstores that sell drugs for human use, by applying pharmacy interviews/questionnaires methods and/or simulated patient methods. Of the 4683 studies retrieved, 85 were included, of which 59 (69.4%) were published in low-and middle-income countries. Most of the papers (83.3%) presented a percentage of antibiotic dispensing without a prescription above 60.0%. Sixty-one studies evaluated the active substance and the most sold antibiotics without a prescription were amoxicillin (86.9%), azithromycin (39.3%), ciprofloxacin (39.3%), and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (39.3%). Among the 65 articles referencing the diseases/symptoms, this practice was shown to be mostly associated with respiratory system problems (100.0%), diarrhea (40.0%), and Urinary Tract Infections (30.8%). In sum, antibiotics are frequently dispensed without a prescription in many countries and can thus have an important impact on the development of resistance at a global level. Our results indicate the high need to implement educational and/or regulatory/administrative strategies in most countries, aiming to reduce this practice. |
Peer review: | yes |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10773/31002 |
DOI: | 10.3390/antibiotics9110786 |
Appears in Collections: | IBIMED - Artigos DCM - Artigos |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
antibiotics-09-00786.pdf | 864.95 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.