MULTI-CENTRE STUDY OF CHILDREN´S ADHERENCE TO ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT IN PRIMARY CARE

Abstract

Objectives. To evaluate the degree of children's adherence to prescription of antibiotics and to determine factors linked to this adherence. Design. Cross-sectional study, conducted through a telephone survey of parents of the children under study ten to fifteen days after the prescription of the antibiotic. Setting. Thirty primary care centres in 6 Spanish provinces. Patients and other participants. Parents or guardians of children from 0 to 10 who attended the primary care centres between October 1998 and January 1999 for treatment of an acute infection and who were prescribed an oral antibiotic treatment with two or more daily doses. Interventions. The measuring instrument was the Morisky-Green test. Measurements and main results. 2244 cases were studied. 1043 of them complied adequately (46.5%; 95% CI, 44.4-48.5). The factors associated with adherence were children´s school situation, the age of parents or carers and the number of daily doses. Conclusions. Only half the children complied correctly with the treatment indicated. Pre-school children, those with parents or carers over 40 and those with a prescription of under three daily doses followed the treatment better. These factors need to be borne in mind by paediatricians when they prescribe an antibiotic.