Características de la prescripción antibiótica en los consultorios de medicina del Hospital Cayetano Heredia de Lima, Perú

Background: The present descriptive cross-sectional study, assesses the proportion of antibiotic prescription (PPA), and the quality of it (CPA) in the ambulatory consultation of the department of medicine at the Cayetano Heredia Hospital, as an approach to antibiotic use in Peruvian hospitals. Methods: The study population was conformed by the patients who went to outpatient care from January 8th to February 2nd, 2001; a sample size of 120 patients was determined out of 1449 patients, to assess CPA. Data on antibiotic prescription was collected, revised and qualified by three experienced physicians, using as gold standard the United States Pharmacopeial Drug Information criteria. Results: PPA was 13,53% (CI 95%:11.77%-15.29%), without significant differences according to age, sex, doctor's offices and turns. The most frequent diagnoses with antibiotic prescription were: urinary tract infection and pharyngoamigdalitis; the antibiotics more frequently prescribed were: ciprofloxacine and cotrimoxazol. Of the antibiotics, 70,00% were prescribed as non commercial name and 70,83% were registered in the National Petitory of Essential Drugs. We found that 81,67% (CI 95%:79.68%-83.66%) of the prescriptions were inadequate mainly due to: duration (59.20%) and dose (20.00%) of the antibiotic treatment, Conclusions: PPA obtained is lower than those published in, and CPA is as high as the reported one in other studies. The investigations in this field are still scarse. It is important new research in order to know about prescription, use and adverse reactions of antibiotics. It is necessary to develop a antibiotic policy to improve access and rational use of antibiotic.