ID: 25: SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF PATIENT ANTIBIOTIC MISUSE IN HARYANA, INDIA

[Oral antibiotic request without prescription in community pharmacies. Description of pharmacists' intervention]

OBJECTIVES

To quantify the proportion of oral antibiotics requests without prescription in Community Pharmacy (CP) and to analyse it causes.

METHOD

Cross-sectional multicentre study carried out in Spanish community pharmacies during 4 weeks, one in each season of the year. Oral J01 antibiotics (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification, ATC) requested for self-medication were analysed.

RESULTS

247 pharmacies and 365 pharmacists participated in the study, 1172 antibiotic requests were recorded. More frequent requests for antibiotic self-medication were: previous treatment for the same symptoms (63.1%), insufficient time for a general practitioner (GP) consultation (12.1%) and patient belief that GP is going to prescribe the antibiotic (4.9%). Higher number of generic medication were requested compared to brand medication (41.1 versus 34.9%). Active ingredients commonly requested were amoxicillin (28.2%), amoxicillin-clavulanic (14.9%) and phosphomycin (21.8%) to treat upper respiratory related infections (35.1%), urinary infections (28.1%) and teeth infections (20.2%). 2406 pharmacists' interventions were carried out: referring to the GP (40.8%), information for correct use of medication (31.3%), non-pharmacological treatment (15.7%), and recommendation of a different medication (6.9%) or a different product (5.3%).

CONCLUSIONS

Nowadays higher number of active ingredients than brands are requested when selecting a treatment for an infection, mainly β-lactams and macrolides. Majority of self-medication tried to treat upper respiratory infections, urinary and teeth infections. Most frequent pharmacists' intervention was referring to the GP to obtain a correct diagnosis and treatment.

Self-medication and antibiotic resistance: Crisis, current challenges, and prevention

The present study aims to explore the crisis of antibiotic resistance and discover more about the current challenges related to self-medication. The current challenges related to antibiotic resistance are unique and differ from the challenges of the past since new bacterial pathogens are involved and continue to evolve. Strains with resistance to multiple antibiotic classes have emerged which the discovery of new antibiotics has failed to match. The consequences of antibiotic resistance are grave with mortality and morbidity continually on the rise. This paper also highlights the possible interventions that can be effective at the micro or individual level in the prevention of development of antibiotic resistance.