TY - JOUR AU - Egbuchulam , Nneka PY - 2023/04/01 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - A Point Prevalence Survey of Antibiotic Prescribing in three Nigerian public children's hospitals.: https://doi.org/10.51412/psnnjp.2023.9 JF - The Nigerian Journal of Pharmacy JA - PSNNJP VL - 57 IS - 1 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://psnnjp.org/index.php/home/article/view/442 SP - 478-490 AB - <p><strong>Background:</strong> Antibiotic resistance continues to impact public health globally hence the need to monitor antibiotic use in hospitals and&nbsp; in children in order to identify gaps in prescribing practices for possible intervention. This study investigated the prevalence and&nbsp; characteristics of antibiotic prescribing in three government hospitals in Lagos Nigeria in November/December 2015 using the Global point prevalence survey of antimicrobial consumption and resistance (G-PPS) as a tool. Data were analysed using the Statistical&nbsp; Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22. Results: Of the 207 inpatients, 180 (87%) were prescribed at least one antibiotic&nbsp; during the survey period. Furthermore, 81% and 89.3% of neonates and paediatric patients respectively were on antibiotics. The most&nbsp; commonly prescribed antibiotic class for neonates were the aminoglycosides (38.1%) and the third- generation cephalosporins (31%).&nbsp; In paediatric patients, the third-generation cephalosporins were the most prescribed (26.2%). Most common diagnosis in neonates&nbsp; was sepsis (38.3%) while lower respiratory tract infections (25.7%) were most occurring in paediatric patients. Community acquired&nbsp; infections were the most common indications for prescribing accounting for 48.8% and 56.6% of neonatal and paediatric prescriptions&nbsp; respectively. Overall, parenteral antibiotic accounted for 96.4% and 80.5% of antibiotics prescribed for neonates and paediatric&nbsp; patients. Targeted antibiotic prescribing was observed in 8.3% and 5.8% of neonatal and paediatric prescriptions. Furthermore, biomarker was used to guide prescribing in only 1.2 % of neonatal prescriptions. Antibiotic stop /review dates were documented in&nbsp; 11.9% and 12.5% of neonatal and paediatric prescriptions.</p><p><strong> Conclusion:</strong> A high prevalence of antibiotic prescribing was observed in the&nbsp; surveyed children's hospitals. The high use of third generation cephalosporins, the predominant use of parenteral antibiotic&nbsp; formulations and the low documentation of stop review dates were among the identified areas for improving prescribing practices at&nbsp; these hospitals. The identified gaps can form the basis for implementing Antibiotic Stewardship Interventions in the hospitals of study.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> ER -