Self-medication with Antimicrobial Drugs in Europe

Grigoryan, Larissa; Haaijer‐Ruskamp, Flora; Burgerhof, Johannes G. M.; Mechtler, Reli; Deschepper, Reginald; Tambić-Andrašević, Arjana; Andrajati, Retnosari; Monnet, Dominique; Cunney, Robert; Matteo, Antonietta Di; Edelstein, Hana; Valintėlienė, Rolanda; Alkerwi, Ala’a; Scicluna, Elizabeth Anne; Grzesiowski, Paweł; Bara, Ana Claudia; Tesař, Tomáš; Čižman, Milan; Campos, Juan Donado; Lundborg, Cecilia Stålsby; Birkin, Joan

doi:10.3201/eid1203.050992

Cited by 368 publications

(402 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

347

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…27,28 The survey of hospital admissions for certain infectious diagnoses that may be related to below optimum antibiotic use showed that these diagnoses have been stable or declining, despite the reduction in prescribing to children (figure 4); these findings are in agreement with a UK study. 29 Antibiotic use varies between countries, but also with regard to class of antibiotics, dosage, and treatment duration.…”

Section: Comparison With Other Countries and Future Perspectivessupporting

confidence: 80%

Sustained reduction of antibiotic use and low bacterial resistance: 10-year follow-up of the Swedish Strama programme

Mölstad

Erntell²,

Hanberger

et al. 2008

The Lancet Infectious Diseases

225

174

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Resistance) was therefore started in 1994 to provide surveillance of antibiotic use and resistance, and to implement the rational use of antibiotics and development of new knowledge. Between 1995 and 2004, antibiotic use for outpatients decreased from 15·7 to 12·6 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day and from 536 to 410 prescriptions per 1000 inhabitants per year. The reduction was most prominent in children aged 5-14 years (52%) and for macrolides (65%). During this period, the number of hospital admissions for acute mastoiditis, rhinosinusitis, and quinsy (peritonsillar abscess) was stable or declining. Although the epidemic spread in southern Sweden of penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae was curbed, the national frequency increased from 4% to 6%. Resistance remained low in most other bacterial species during this period. This multidisciplinary, coordinated programme has contributed to the reduction of antibiotic use without measurable negative consequences. However, antibiotic resistance in several bacterial species is slowly increasing, which has led to calls for continued sustained efforts to preserve the effectiveness of available antibiotics.

show abstract

Section: Comparison With Other Countries and Future Perspectivessupporting

confidence: 80%

Sustained reduction of antibiotic use and low bacterial resistance: 10-year follow-up of the Swedish Strama programme

Mölstad

Erntell²,

Hanberger

et al. 2008

The Lancet Infectious Diseases

225

174

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is quite evident when the data is compared with that published by the Self-Medication with Antibiotics and Resistance (SAR) project in European countries [22]. Median prescribed antibiotic use in the European countries was 28.8% (interquartile range (IQR): 19.9-35.3%) whereas the countries in our study exhibited a median of 40.9% (IQR: 33.7-44.12%) (p = 0.07).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…Short structured interviews were held in chosen centres in Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia and Turkey. The questionnaire content was adapted from a previously validated and used questionnaire in the Self-Medication with Antibiotics and Resistance (SAR) project [22]. The version used for the ARMed study was pre-tested on a small number of individuals who gave their comments to the co-ordinator who made the necessary changes to make it acceptable for the population under study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-medication with antibiotics in the ambulatory care setting within the Euro-Mediterranean region; results from the ARMed project

Scicluna

Borg

Gür

et al. 2009

Journal of Infection and Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Anecdotal data from the southern and eastern Mediterranean region suggests that self-medication with antibiotics is commonly practiced in many countries. In order to provide proper information on the situation, we undertook short structured interviews in out-patients clinics or primary health centres in Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia and Turkey. A total of 2109 interviews were undertaken of which 1705 completed the full questionnaire. Self-medication was reported by 19.1% (<0.1% in Cyprus to 37% in Lebanon) of respondents. Intended selfmedication ranged from 1.3% (95% CI 0%, 3%) in Cyprus to 70.7% (95% CI 64%, 77%) in Jordan. Upper respiratory tract symptoms were the most frequent reasons for which respondents indicated they would self-medicate. 48.4% of the whole group replied that they kept antibiotics at home, being highest in Lebanon (60%, 95% CI 51%, 69%). We found a significant association between antibiotic hoarders and intended users of antibiotics for self-medication. Our data confirms that non-prescribed antibiotic use is high within ambulatory care in southern and eastern Mediterranean countries, being almost twice that reported in a similar European study. Corrective efforts are * Corresponding author. clearly required in the region to ensure proper use of antimicrobials so as to reduce pressure for antimicrobial resistance.

show abstract

“…The most commonly used drugs for self-medication in this study, i.e., analgesics (including anti-flu drugs), NSAIDs and antihistamines, are also the most prevalent in worldwide studies (1,4,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) and are related to the problems for which people selfmedicate. Some authors argue that this is because analgesics/antipyretics constitute the first line of medical intervention in many communities (15).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factores económicos, sociales y culturales asociados con automedicación

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Self-medication is an increasingly frequent phenomenon worldwide; some studies suggest that there is a relationship with socio-economic and cultural factors. Objective: To determine the prevalence of self-medication and its related factors in a Colombian city. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study, in Pereira, Colombia. We selected 414 adults using simple randomization sampling with houses used as the observational unit. The IRIS-AM instrument was used to collect the information required. Results: Four hundred and fourteen (414) people were interviewed, 62.6% were females, and mean age was 44 years; 77.5% of the sample had self-medicated at least once in their life and 31.9% during the last month. The most commonly used medications were: analgesics and antipyretics (44.3%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and anti-rheumatic medication (36.4%), and anti-histamine medication (8.5%). The most commonly self-medicated symptoms were: headache (55.7%), cold (16.2%) and muscular pain (13.2%). Multivariate analysis revealed an association between self-medication throughout life and storing medications at home, and between a high level of education and having a favorable opinion of self-medication. Storing medications at home and recommending them to others were associated with self-medication during the previous 30 days. Conclusion: Self-medication rates were found to be similar to those reported globally, but there is not an established pattern for this practice. Associations were found between social and demographic variables and self-medication, which require further characterization. Intention to self-medicate has not been well-described in other studies, and may be an important indicator which will contribute to future understanding of this phenomenon.

show abstract

Self-medication with Antimicrobial Drugs in Europe

Abstract: Antimicrobial drug self-medication occurs most often in eastern and southern Europe and least often in northern and western Europe.

Cited by 368 publications

References 24 publications

Sustained reduction of antibiotic use and low bacterial resistance: 10-year follow-up of the Swedish Strama programme

Sustained reduction of antibiotic use and low bacterial resistance: 10-year follow-up of the Swedish Strama programme

Self-medication with antibiotics in the ambulatory care setting within the Euro-Mediterranean region; results from the ARMed project

Factores económicos, sociales y culturales asociados con automedicación

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About