Most Common Infections and Antibiotic Prescribing Habits of Residents: Experience of Three University Hospitals

As the common use of antibiotics is a very important factor in antibiotic resistance, their rational use has to be promotedworld. We planned this study in order to define the habits and approach of Turkish residents when prescribing antibiotics, includingtheir selection criteria, and to discover if the availability of laboratory tests affected their approach. In this descriptive study, theresidents in the authorsÕ hospitals were visited once during October and November 2001. Anonymous, volunteer-basedquestionnaires were used, which required the following information: demographic features of resident, the most common types ofinfections and groups of antibiotics prescribed, any laboratory tests performed, and the antibiotic selection criteria. Chi-square testwas used for the statistical analysis. Among 306 residents, 229 (74.8%) participated in the study. We found that upper respiratorytract infection was the most common type of infection, and amoxicillin-clavulonate and ampicillin-sulbactam were the most commonlyprescribed antibiotics. Initial selection criteria for antibiotic prescription by our residents were patientsÕ expectations and cost of thetherapy. Laboratory did not affect our residents antibiotic prescription habits. We concluded that the availability of laboratory testingdid not affect the residents decision to prescribe antibiotics. Residents and the community should be educated on rational drug useand prescription.