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Pediatricians’ compliance to the clinical management guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia in infants and young children in Pakistan

Shakeel, Sadia and Wajiha, Iffat and Qamar, Ambreen and Ghuman, Faiza and Ahmad, Nausheen and Muhammad Ishaq, Saqib and Gajdács,, Márió and Patel, Isha and Jamshed, Shazia Qasim (2021) Pediatricians’ compliance to the clinical management guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia in infants and young children in Pakistan. Healthcare, 9 (6). pp. 1-7. E-ISSN 2227-9032

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Abstract

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is among the most commonly prevailing acute infections in children that may require hospitalization. Inconsistencies among suggested care and actual management practices are usually observed, which raises the need to assess local clinical practices. The current study was conducted to evaluate pediatricians’ compliance with the standard clinical practice guidelines and their antibiotic-prescribing behavior for the management of CAP in children. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire; which was provided to pediatricians by the researchers. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 25 Statistics; χ2 tests (or Fisher-exact tests) with the p-value set at < 0.05 as the threshold for statistical significance. Results: The overall response rate was 59.2%. Male respondents were (n = 101; 42.6%), and the respondents (n = 163; 68.7%) were under 30 years of age. Amoxicillin (n = 122; 51.5%) was considered as the most commonly used first-line treatment for non-severe pneumonia, whereas a smaller proportion (n = 81; 34.2%) of respondents selected amoxicillin–clavulanate. Likewise, amoxicillin (n = 100; 42.2%) was the most popular choice for non-severe pneumonia in hospitalized children; however, if children had used antibiotics earlier to admission, respondents showed an inclination to prescribe a macrolide (n = 95; 40.0%) or second-generation cephalosporin (n = 90; 37.9%). More than 90% responded that children <6 months old with suspected bacterial CAP will probably receive better therapeutic care by hospitalization. Restricting exposure to the antibiotic as much as possible (n = 71; 29.9%), improving antibiotic prescribing (n = 59; 24.8%), and using the appropriate dose of antimicrobials (n = 29; 12.2%) were considered the major factors by the respondents to reduce antimicrobials resistance. Conclusions: The selection of antibiotics and diagnostic approach was as per the recommendations, but indication, duration of treatment, and hospitalization still can be further improved. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Item Type: Article (Journal)
Additional Information: 6803/90873
Uncontrolled Keywords: Clinical management guidelines; Community-acquired pneumonia; Lower respiratory tract infections; Pakistan; Pediatricians
Subjects: R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button): Kulliyyah of Pharmacy
Kulliyyah of Pharmacy > Department of Pharmaceutical Technology
Depositing User: Dr Shazia Jamshed
Date Deposited: 16 Jul 2021 16:43
Last Modified: 16 Jul 2021 16:43
URI: http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/90873

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