Epidemiological evaluation of anti-infective drug prescribing for children in outpatient practice.

In comparison with other regions in Yugoslavia, in the District of Novi Sad a high prescribing rate for antimicrobial drug were previously found. The aim of this study was to determine whether this high rate applies also to pediatric patients up to the age of 7 years, to define the prescribing pattern of physicians, and ultimately, to direct educational and other measures toward improving the therapeutic practices. The sample consisted of all prescriptions for 1 month for 26,652 children, comprising 8.9% of the total population. The method was based on a drug dose statistics concept, where the most frequently prescribed amount of the active substance, determined by convention as the defined daily dose (DDD), was used as a unit of measurement. The number of such statistical or average doses were expressed per 1,000 children per day. It was found that the prescribing rate in the District exceeds all other regions for which comparable data exist. In the prescribing pattern, the high usage of tetracyclines contributed to final removal of tetracyclines in syrup formulation from the market in Yugoslavia.