• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.427-450
• /
• 2012

Objectives : This study examined the factors influencing variation by local areas of antibiotics prescription rate in upper respiratory infections (URI) according to the public reporting. Methods : We used the National Health Insurance Claims Data which the clinics claimed for URI (Korean Standard Classification of Disease, J00 ~ J06) in ambulatory care. The period of analysis was from the first quarter (from January to March) of 2005 to the first quarter of 2007. The number of samples was total 242 local areas that included all clinics (N = 7,942), which prescribed antibiotics for URI in ambulatory care. Results : None of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristic indicators was statistically significant. Among the provider factors, An increase in number of doctors and the average annual antibiotics prescription rate (from 2003 to 2004) for URI by local area were significantly related to an increase of antibiotics prescription rate according to the public reporting. And an increase in number of pediatric clinics, the proportion of clinics less than 5 years since has opened and the average annual fluctuation of antibiotics prescription rate (from 2003 to 2005) were significantly related to a decrease in antibiotics prescription rate by local area according to the disclosure of information. Conclusions : According to the public reporting, the antibiotics prescription rate in clinics had decreased sharply. However, the reduction of antibiotic prescription rate varied in different local areas. The factors influencing variation by local areas in antibiotics prescription rate can be used for establishing effective strategies to reduce variation by region in antibiotics prescription rate.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2005

Objectives : To explore the factors influencing antibiotics prescription by primary health physicians for acute upper respiratory infections(URI). Methods : We performed a survey of 370 primary health physicians randomly sampled in April, 2003. The questionnaire consisted of a prescription on the scenario of acute bronchitis case, along with opinions and reasons for prescribing antibiotics on URI. Results : We found that 54.7% of the physicians prescribed antibiotics on the example case of acute bronchitis which is known as not needing antibiotics. Female physicians and ENT physicians had a greater tendency to prescribe antibiotics. The factors influencing antibiotics prescription on URI were the belief about the effectiveness of antibiotics, preference for their own experiences rather than clinical guidelines, perception of patients' expectations, and perception of competitive environment. The prescription of antibiotics in the example case was affected by how much they usually prescribe antibiotics (OR=2.400, 95% CI=1.470-3.917) and the physicians who thought that antibiotics were helpful for their income prescribed antibiotics more than others (OR=6.773, 95% CI=1.816-25.254). Conclusion : These findings demonstrated that the false belief on the effectiveness of antibiotics, patient's expectation of medication and fast relief of symptoms, and perception of competitive environment all affected the physicians prescription of antibiotics on URI. It may help to find barriers to accommodate scientific evidence and clinical guidelines among physicians and to specify subgroups for education about appropriate prescription behaviors.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.49-57
• /
• 2020

Objectives: This study aimed to understand the nationwide patterns of antibiotic prescription after tooth extraction in adult patients. Materials and Methods: This study analyzed dental records from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort (NHIS-NSC) database on 503,725 tooth extractions performed in adults (≥19 years) during 2011-2015. Patient sex, age, household income, systemic disease (diabetes mellitus and hypertension), type of dental institution, region of dental institution, year of prescription, and type of tooth extraction procedure were considered. The antibiotic prescription rate and broad-spectrum antibiotic prescription frequency were analyzed using chi-squared tests. Factors affecting the prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The rate of antibiotic prescription after tooth extraction was 81.85%. Penicillin was most commonly prescribed (45.25%), followed by penicillin with beta-lactamase inhibitors (18.76%), metronidazole (12.29%), and second- to fourth-generation cephalosporins (11.52%). The proportion of broad-spectrum antibiotics used among all prescribed antibiotics was 45.88%. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that the rate of antibiotic prescription after tooth extraction is higher in Korea than in other countries. Furthermore, broad-spectrum antibiotics are used more frequently, which may indicate unnecessary drug prescription, an important contributor to antibiotic resistance.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.323-332
• /
• 2015

Background: Antibiotic resistance has been becoming serious challenge to human beings. Overuse of antibiotics, especially, for infants is concerned, but studies are very few for the prescribing pattern of antibiotic use for infants. This study analyzes prescribing patterns of antibiotics in outpatients of preschool children with acute respiratory tract infections in South Korea. Methods: Data are used from 2011 Health Insurance Review & Assessment Services-pediatric patients sample. Inclusion criteria is outpatient children (0 to 5 years) with top five frequent diseases. Prescription rates are analyzed by types of disease, provider, specialty, region, and ages. Binary or multinomial logit models are used to analyze determinants of providers' prescription pattern. Results: The main findings are as follows. First, distributions of prescription rates are shown as L-shape or M-shape depending on the types of disease. Second, the prescription variation is so large among providers, where providers are polarized as a group with low prescription rates and the other group with high prescription rates, though the shapes are shown diversified across types of disease. Third, prescription rates appear to be lower in pediatrics and higher in ENT (ear-nose-throat). Fourth, broad spectrum antibiotics are widely used among children. Finally, the logit analysis shows similar results with descriptive statistics, but partly different results across types of disease. Conclusion: Antibiotics for respiratory tract infections of infants are used excessively with a large variation among providers, and especially broad spectrum antibiotics are used. The prescription guideline for antibiotics should be provided for each specific disease to reduce antibiotic resistance in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.164-169
• /
• 2009

Objectives : Administration methods of antibiotics implements a variety for indications and diseases. Therefore, it is impossible to produce a single guideline. Many antibiotics have been prescribed without specific index, by practicians for a long period of time. In general dental practice and oral and maxillofacial surgical practice, there is not a guidelines for antibiotics. Therefore, there is a dependency on pre-existent methods rather than following an exact guideline. Consequently, a controversy was issued that prescription of antibiotics tend to be misused or abused. And it is also direct relation to the tolerance of antibiotics as well. Moving forward, in this review we will be analyzing the exact usage and indication of antibiotics in dental treatment. Materials and Methods : 29 published articles of both domestic and international were researched through Pubmed and Kormed, and the review from these articles were performed accordingly. We examined the administration of antibiotics through the objective usage, that classified prophylactic and therapeutic. Results : For therapeutic usage, empirical prescription is mandatory for the first step. Next is to moderate the empirical prescription depending upon the result of its culture. Administration of antibiotics must be kept for 2days after the symptoms disappear. For a prophylactic use, we can generally pr escribe antibiotics to prevent local infection or systemic infection. Although the method of prescription and neccessity of antibiotics to prevent local in fection are controversial, exact guidelines of antibiotics to prevent systemic infection are established by AHA. Conclusion : Most crucial concept for prescript antibiotics is to determine if it is adequately suitable for all circumstances. In this decision making, a guideline for prescription of antibiotics in various dental surgical practice is necessary. This guideline can reduce the misusage and disusage of a ntibiotics in general dental practices and oral and maxillofacial surgical practices.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.409-419
• /
• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting antibiotic prescription in dental outpatients. Methods: The present study was conducted using data from the National Health Insurance Service - National Sample Cohort. We analyzed prescriptions issued in the dental outpatient department in 2015, for adults over 19 years of age. Antibiotic prescription rates and mean prescription days were analyzed by sex, age, insurance type, presence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension, season in treatment, type of dental institution, and location of dental institution. Multivariate logistic regression was also performed to analyze the factors affecting antibiotic prescription in dental outpatients. Results: A total of 257,038 prescriptions were analyzed. The mean prescription days of antibiotics in dental outpatients were $3.04{\pm}1.08days$, and the prescription rate was 93.0%. Two variables (presence of diabetes mellitus and insurance type) were excluded from the multivariate logistic regression analysis model because they did not significantly affect antibiotic prescription. The possibility of antibiotic prescription was higher in men ${\geq}61years$ of age and those with hypertension. Furthermore, antibiotics were most frequently prescribed in dental clinics rather than dental hospitals, and more frequently in Busan compared to other areas (p<0.001). Conclusions: Several factors were determined to affect antibiotic prescription, and detailed guidelines for consistent antibiotic prescription are needed.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.145-150
• /
• 2010

In order to investigate the antibiotic prescription pattern for upper respiratory infections (URI), the prescription sheets for outpatients from July 2008 to June 2009 were collected from 7 community pharmacies in Ulsan City, and the prescription pattern of Pediatric and ENT physicians was analyzed. The antibiotic prescription rates of Pediatric and ENT physicians were 63.8% and 61.7%, respectively. It was also observed that the oral antibiotic prescription was 95.6% in Pediatrics and 97.6% in ENT. The most favorable antibiotics by Pediatric physicians were penicillins (21.5%) penicillin-clavulanate (36.4%) and cephalosporins (16.5%), macrolides (11.6%), quinolones (3.5%), and nifuroxazide (3.5%). In case of ENT, the commonly prescribed antibiotics were also penicillin-clavulanate (47.6%), cephalosporins (31.6%), macrolides (11.9%) and sulfonamide (1.3%). The antibiotic combination rate was 7.6% in Peditrics and 1.9% in ENT, among antibiotic prescriptions. The combination of more than two oral antibiotics was examined as 66.8% in Pediatrics and 44.2% in ENT. The common oral antibiotic combination in Pediatrics was prescriptions of two ${\beta}$-lactam antibiotics (54.3%). Among them 83% was the combination of amoxicillin-clavulanate (7:1) and amoxicillin, which could be judged as antibiotic overuse. The next highly prescribed oral antibiotic combination was ${\beta}$-lactam/macrolide antibiotic combination probably for URI (11.3%) and ${\beta}$-lactam/nifuroxazide combination (10.0%) presumably for acute diarrhea. Comparatively the oral antibiotic combination prescribed by ENT physicians was negligible except one physician. In conclusion, the antibiotic over-prescription rate by antibiotic combination was much higher in Pediatrics than ENT, even though both clinical departments showed nealy the similar antibiotic prescription rates.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.332-338
• /
• 2011

This study aimed to investigate the prescription of antibiotics in clinics, and evaluate their usage appropriateness after the 2000 Korean separation of dispensary from medical practice. A retrospective study was performed on the antibiotic use for 4 years from August 2000 to July 2004 in three clinics (general, internal medicine and ear-nose-and-throat (ENT) clinics). Moreover, prescription of antibiotics for acute upper respiratory infection (AURI), concomitant drugs, duplicate antibiotics and patient adherence were assessed for 260 patients experienced AURI in a pharmacy. The prescription rates of antibiotics amongst the whole prescription decreased annually during the study period, but those in ENT clinic still constituted more than 90%. The usage of penicillins declined, but that of broad spectrum antibiotics such as amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and 1st/2nd generation cephalosporins increased. Moreover, the categories of antibiotics for the same indication were different among the clinics. For patients with AURI, the more antibiotics were prescribed as its missing days and days under its therapeutic dose increased. The drug interactions with concomitant drugs decreased annually, but the use of duplicate antibiotics was similar across the period. Potential inappropriate antibiotic use was common after the Korean policy, so the observation of pharmacists needs in addition to the patients and practitioners' attention.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.105-119
• /
• 1993

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the program for the control of acute respiratory infections(ARI) in children in a Korean rural area(Yonchon county). Evaluating the program, we focused on the pattern of prescription and appropriateness of antibiotics prescribed by the health personnel who had participated in the ARI Control Program. It was implemented at the primary health care setting in rural area, such as district hospital, health subcenters, and health posts. During six-months programme monitoring period, medical records were reviewed and collected data were analysed by the pediatrician, research coordinator of this study. The baseline data were collected from medical records of the same period(six months) of one year before the implementation of the ARI programme. The study results were as follow : 1. Common cold was the most prevalent disease(78.7%. 594 cases) among the all ARI cases (755 cases). The less frequent cases were bronchitis(11.9%), acute pharyngitis(5.2%), and pneumonia(1.8%). 2. Significant reduction in the use of antibiotics was observed after the programme implementation. Ninety three(15.7%) of 594 common cold cases were received antibiotics compared with 282(35.2%) of 802 in the baseline period. In the cases of bronchitis and acute pharyngitis, the reduction rates were 15.1% and 23.2% respectively compared to the baseline period. 3. Mean duration of antibiotics prescription was 1.81-1.75 days, similar to the baseline data. 4. The appropriateness rate of antibiotics prescriptions were 84.3%(common cold), 35.6% (bronchitis) and 28.2%(acute pharyngitis). In the case of pneumonia, the antibiotics prescription was compatible to the criteria developed. 5. Pediatrician prescribed antibiotics more appropriately for all cases than general practitioners in health sub-center, and nurse practitioners in health posts. 6. Antibiotics therapy was shown to be of no effect in the treatment of the all ARI cases. At the 5 and 10 days check-up of common cold cases after visits, proportion of improved patients were 58.3% in the antibiotics-used group and 51.4% in the control group. In the other cases of ARI, the patterns of response were similar to common cold. None of the differences in outcome between the antibiotics-used and control group was statistically significant. This ARI programme may have substantial a substantial impact on antibiotics use at the public health institutions(district hospital, health subcenters, health posts) which are of major domain for primary health care in Korean rural areas.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.93-110
• /
• 2003

Fiscal crisis in the medical insurance has put the pressure upon hospitals by increasing the rate of curtailment, since the implementation of the separation between prescription and dispensing of Drug. The purpose of this study is to analyze the curtailment for antibiotics, injected drug and other drugs expenditure before and after the system of separation between prescribing and dispensing. Data were gathered from 13 general hospitals and used for analysis of trends on antibiotics and injected drug expenditure, and curtailment in 2000-2001 at three months intervals. The results were as follows; The curtailment rate of antibiotics expenditure has been increased in outpatient and inpatient since 2000. The curtailed antibiotics cost and injected drug cost in outpatient under the prescription within the hospital and in inpatient increased. The ratios of curtailment versus expenditure had increased in antibiotics, injected drugs, anticancer drugs, antiulcer drugs, albumine, antiinflammatory drugs. These results suggest that claim review system in social health insurance were over-focused mainly to control the cost and it might to impede the validity of claim review function in health insurance system. Therefore, it's needed to develope the scientific and reasonable parameter & criteria for claim review of drug expenditure.