1. Prescribing of Outpatient Antibiotics Commonly Used for Respiratory Infections Among Adults Before and During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic in Brazil.
- Author
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Solanky D, McGovern OL, Edwards JR, Mahon G, Patel TS, Lessa FC, Hicks LA, and Patel PK
- Subjects
- Adult, Humans, Male, Amoxicillin-Potassium Clavulanate Combination, Anti-Bacterial Agents therapeutic use, Azithromycin, Brazil epidemiology, Ceftriaxone, Outpatients, Pandemics, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Female, Aged, COVID-19 epidemiology, Respiratory Tract Infections drug therapy, Respiratory Tract Infections epidemiology
- Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have impacted outpatient antibiotic prescribing in low- and middle-income countries such as Brazil. However, outpatient antibiotic prescribing in Brazil, particularly at the prescription level, is not well-described., Methods: We used the IQVIA MIDAS database to characterize changes in prescribing rates of antibiotics commonly prescribed for respiratory infections (azithromycin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, levofloxacin/moxifloxacin, cephalexin, and ceftriaxone) among adults in Brazil overall and stratified by age and sex, comparing prepandemic (January 2019-March 2020) and pandemic periods (April 2020-December 2021) using uni- and multivariate Poisson regression models. The most common prescribing provider specialties for these antibiotics were also identified., Results: In the pandemic period compared to the prepandemic period, outpatient azithromycin prescribing rates increased across all age-sex groups (incidence rate ratio [IRR] range, 1.474-3.619), with the greatest increase observed in males aged 65-74 years; meanwhile, prescribing rates for amoxicillin-clavulanate and respiratory fluoroquinolones mostly decreased, and changes in cephalosporin prescribing rates varied across age-sex groups (IRR range, 0.134-1.910). For all antibiotics, the interaction of age and sex with the pandemic in multivariable models was an independent predictor of prescribing changes comparing the pandemic versus prepandemic periods. General practitioners and gynecologists accounted for the majority of increases in azithromycin and ceftriaxone prescribing during the pandemic period., Conclusions: Substantial increases in outpatient prescribing rates for azithromycin and ceftriaxone were observed in Brazil during the pandemic with prescribing rates being disproportionally different by age and sex. General practitioners and gynecologists were the most common prescribers of azithromycin and ceftriaxone during the pandemic, identifying them as potential specialties for antimicrobial stewardship interventions., Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. L. A. H. is an unpaid volunteer member on the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Board of Trustees and the American College of Physicians Clinical Guidelines Committee. All other authors report no potential conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America 2023.)
- Published
- 2023
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