Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2005 Sep;12(3):121-6.

Prescribing patterns for acute respiratory infections in primary health care, aseer region, saudi arabia

Yahia M Al-Khaldi  1 , Mohamed M A A Diab, Khalid S Al-Gelban, Ali S Al-Asmari, Salaheddin Al-Amin, Mesfer S Al-Shahrani
Affiliations

Prescribing patterns for acute respiratory infections in primary health care, aseer region, saudi arabia

Yahia M Al-Khaldi et al. J Family Community Med. 2005 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the patterns of prescribing for Acute respiratory infections in patients attending primary health care centers in the Aseer region, southwestern Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS #ENTITYSTARTX00026;

Methods: This study was conducted at primary health care centers in the Aseer region during November 2003. A master sheet designed by the investigator was distributed to all the working physicians in the primary health care center in the Aseer region. The master sheet included the age, sex, complaints, signs, clinical diagnosis and the type of medications prescribed. Physicians were asked to include all patients attending on 17(th) November 2003, and send the master sheet to the Technical Supervision Unit at Primary Care Department, General Directorate of Health Affairs. Data of the master sheet was entered and analyzed by using SPSS.

Results: The total number of patients attending with acute respiratory infections(ARIs) was 3000 which represented 25% of the patients attending primary health care centers that day. Children formed 60% of the total number of cases. Regarding symptoms and signs, it was found that 70% had a cough, 59% had a runny nose, and 43% had a sore throat . The common cold was the most common diagnosis (42%). Antipyretics, antihistamines, antibiotics and antitussives were prescribed for 78%, 48%, 45% and 25% respectively. Statistical analysis using logistic regression revealed that the higher the temperature, the more severe the throat congestion and the presence of exudates on pharynx, the higher the likelihood to prescribe antibiotics.

Conclusion: In this study, it was found that the prescription of all drugs for ARIs was still high in spite of the fact that these conditions are self-limiting. To rationalize prescribing for ARI, implementation of the national protocol for diagnosis and treatment of ARIs is mandatory. Further studies to explore the physician's knowledge, attitudes and behavior concerning prescribing for ARI is strongly recommended.

Keywords: Acute Respiratory Infections; Prescribing; Primary health care centers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Appendix 1
Appendix 1
Master sheet for ARI management at PHCC level in Aseer region, KSA
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anonymous. Acute respiratory infections: the forgotten pandemic. Communiqué from the international Conference on Acute Respiratory Infections, Canerra, Australia 7-10 July, 1997. International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. 1998;2:2–4. - PubMed
    1. Gonzales R, Steiner JF, Sande MA. Antibiotic prescribing for adults with colds, upper respiratory tract infections, and bronchitis by ambulatory care physicians. JAMA. 1997;5:79–83. - PubMed
    1. Stone S, Gonzales R, Maselli J, Lowenstein SR. Antibiotics prescribing for patients with colds, upper respiratory infections, and bronchitis: A national study of hospital – based emergency departments. Ann Emerg Med. 2000;36:320–7. - PubMed
    1. Campbell H. Acute respiratory infections: a global challenge .Arch Dis. Child. 1995;73:281–3. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Orr PH, Scherer K, MacDonald A, et al. Randomized placebo-controlled trials of antibiotics for acute bronchitis: A critical review of the literature. J Fam Pract. 1993;36:507. - PubMed