Skip Navigation


The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on June 7, 2005
The European Journal of Public Health 2005 15(3):276-281; doi:10.1093/eurpub/cki080
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
15/3/276    most recent
cki080v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Caminal, J.
Right arrow Articles by Rovira, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Caminal, J.
Right arrow Articles by Rovira, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Health Services Research

Antibiotic prescription in primary health care: clinical and economic perspectives (Catalonia, Spain)

Josefina Caminal1 and Joan Rovira2

1 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
2 Human Development Network, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA

Correspondence: Josefina Caminal, MD, PhD, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Facultat de Medicina. Medicina Preventiva i Salut Pública, Edifici M, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola) Barcelona, Spain, tel. +34 93 581 3802, fax +34 93 581 2344, Email: josefina.caminal{at}uab.es

Objective: To quantify clinical inappropriateness of antibiotic prescription and its costs in primary health care. Methods: 2470 cases of infectious disease during 1998 were analysed. Results: Of all cases, 69.9% did not require antibiotic treatment. Global clinical inappropriateness amounted to 43.7%, rising to 56.7% with the introduction of economic criteria. Treatment unnecessary but antibiotic provided (27.9%) represented the most important category. Costs of inappropriateness reached 68.4% of the estimated total cost. Conclusion: Appropriate antibiotic use should be focused on reducing antibiotic prescription when not indicated and restrainting the use of penicillins maintaining restrictive and adequate health policies, and also achieving co-responsibility from the general population.

Keywords: antibiotic prescription, clinical inappropriateness, costs of inappropriateness, primary health care


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.