The rate of antibiotic utilization in Iranian under 5-year-old children with acute respiratory tract illness: A nationwide community-based study

Abstract

Background: To investigate the prevalence of antibiotic usage in children aged <5 years with acute respiratory tract illness (ARTI) in Iran. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from a national health survey conducted in 2010 (Iran's Multiple Indicator Demographic and Health Survey). Participants of this cross-sectional study were selected by multistage stratified cluster-random sampling from 31 provinces of Iran. Parents of children with <5 years of age responded to questions about the occurrence of any cough during the previous 2 weeks, referral to private/governmental/other health care systems, and utilization of any oral/injection form of antibiotics. Data were analyzed using SPSS software18. The chi-square test was used to determine antibiotic consumption in various gender and residency groups and also a place of residence with the referral health care system. Results: Of the 9345 children under 5 years who participated in the study, 1506 cases (16.2) had ARTI during 2 weeks prior to the interview, in whom 1143 (75.9) were referred to urban or rural health care centers (43.4 vs. 30.4; P < 0.001). Antibiotics were utilized by 715 (62.6) of affected children. Injection formulations were used for 150 (13.1) patients. The frequency of receiving antibiotics was higher in urban than in rural inhabitants (66.0 vs. 57.7; P < 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of total and injection antibiotics usage in children < 5 years with ARTI is alarmingly high in Iran. Therefore, interventions to reduce antibiotic use are urgently needed.