Pharmacological treatment of acute otitis media in children. A comparison among seven locations: Tenerife, Barcelona and Valencia (Spain), Toulouse (France), Smolensk (Russia), Bratislava (Slovakia) and Sofia (Bulgaria).

OBJECTIVE

To describe patterns observed in the treatment of acute otitis media (AOM) in several locations of five countries.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Cross-sectional, descriptive study. Random sample of 12,264 paediatric outpatients seen by paediatricians or general practitioners (GPs). Data on patient demographics, diagnoses and treatment were collected. Diagnoses were coded by ICD-9 and drugs by ATC classification. Patients diagnosed with AOM (ICD-9 codes: 381 and 382) were selected for analysis.

RESULTS

Cases of AOM (873) accounted for 7.1% of the sample. There is a clear variation in the percentage of children diagnosed with AOM and treated with antibiotics in the different locations, antibiotic prescriptions being higher in Barcelona (93% of children), and lowest in Smolensk (56.4 % of children were treated without antibiotics). The antibiotics used varied widely: ampicillin use is almost limited to Smolensk (26.7%) and Bratislava (13.8%), whereas amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid is the choice in Toulouse (33.8%), Valencia (30.2%) and Barcelona (28.9%), and cephalosporins are more frequently prescribed in Tenerife (51.7%). Finally, macrolides are used in Barcelona (18.3%), Valencia (17.5%) and Tenerife (13.6%), but not prescribed in Toulouse or Sofia. Prescriptions of anti-inflammatory drugs were only relevant in Valencia (31.7%), Tenerife (27.2%) and Toulouse (17.4%) and of otological preparations in Sofia, where almost each child received ear drops (91.9%). Nasal preparations are commonly used only in Sofia (41.9%), Bratislava (65.5%) and Smolensk (68.6%).

CONCLUSION

Despite the general agreement of most guidelines, wide differences in the treatment of uncomplicated AOM in children are observed. Non-antibiotic therapy for AOM and the use of first-choice antibiotics should be more actively encouraged in the primary care centres. Studies to measure prevailing rates of antibiotic resistance in these populations are needed.