Antibiotic prescribing patterns at children’s outpatient departments of primary care institutions in Southwest China

BACKGROUND: Inappropriate use of antibiotics in children is common in many countries. The purpose of the study was to explore patterns of antibiotic prescribing in children’s outpatient clinics in primary care institutions in a province of southwest China. METHODS: We obtained electronic prescription data from 75 primary care institutions in Guizhou province in 2020. The classification of incorrect spectrum of antibiotics, unnecessary use and combined use of antibiotics was based on the Guiding Principle of Clinical Use of Antibiotics (2015, China) and guidelines from the USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Potential risk factors for inappropriate use of antibiotics were identified using bivariate analyses. The generalized estimation equation was used to identify independent predictors of inappropriate use of antibiotics. RESULTS: A total of 158,267 antibiotic prescriptions were retrieved. Acute upper respiratory tract infections were the most common diseases, accounting for 74.9% of all prescriptions. The main antibiotic group used was penicillins (63.7%), followed by cephalosporins (18.8%). Of 137,284 visits, 18.3% of antibiotic prescriptions were appropriate and the percentage of unnecessary use, incorrect spectrum of antibiotics and combined use of antibiotics was 76.9, 2.4 and 2.4%, respectively. Physicians with lower professional titles and more than 40 years of work duration were relatively more likely to prescribe inappropriate antibiotics. CONCLUSION: The inappropriate use of antibiotics in children is still prominent in primary care institutions of southwest China. The education and training of physicians and caregivers in these institutions should be strengthened. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-022-01875-9.