Patterns of antibiotic prescriptions and appropriateness in the emergency room in a major secondary care hospital in Bahrain

Objective: To describe the pattern and appropriateness of antibiotics prescribed in the emergency room in a major secondary care hospital in Bahrain.Methods: Patients aged more than or equal to 14 years old that attended emergency room and was prescribed antibiotics from 1 to 31 July 2014 were included. Data were obtained from patients’ emergency records. Antibiotic treatment was classified to appropriate, inappropriate or unjustified use according to the local or international guidelines. Chi Square was performed to evaluate the variables associated to appropriateness antibiotic treatment.Results: A total of 1313 patients were included (52.6% males), mostly in the age group 14-30 years old (45.3%). The most frequent diseases attended were upper respiratory and urinary tract infections (27.3% and 22.1%,respectively). Cefuroxime was the most prescribed antibiotic (37.5%) followed by ciprofloxacin (20.8%). Percentage of inappropriate antibiotics prescription was 81.9% mostly due to unjustified use. Inappropriate antibiotic treatment was significantly more common in males (87.1%; P-value <0.001), in patients without mentioned diagnosis, then upper respiratory tract infection (100%, 96.9%. P-value <0.001) and prescriptions written by emergency physicians (85.5%; P- value <0.001).Conclusion: The study concludes that high rate of inappropriate antibiotics use mostly among patients treated by emergency doctors.