Antibiotic prescription practices in primary care in low- and middle-income countries

[madhukar.pai]

This systematic review and meta-analysis estimated the proportion of antibiotic prescribing across primary care settings in LMICs.

• The study showed that, on average, approximately half of patients attending primary care facilities in LMICs received at least 1 antibiotic.
• Very few included studies made an attempt to assess the extent of inappropriate prescriptions and indicate potential misuse.

Lack of diagnostics is a key driver of antibiotic overuse at the primary care level.

URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003139