ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2019 October;154(5):533-8

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-0488.19.06346-6

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Acne antibiotic prescription pattern in Colombia

Héctor C. PÉREZ CELY ¹ ✉, Elkin J. CASADIEGO RINCÓN ², Héctor J. CASTELLANOS LORDUY ^{1, 2}

¹ Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Colombia, Bogota, Colombia; ² Federico Lleras Acosta Dermatologic Center, Bogota, Colombia

BACKGROUND: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has been growing exponentially. Acne is the most common outpatient complains in dermatology, and involve the use of antibiotics for treatment.
METHODS: We conducted a drug utilization study, with a retrospective and descriptive design, in order to evaluated the antibiotic prescription pattern for acne vulgaris patients who were cared for the first time in 2015, and were prescribed with an antibiotic, no matter if it was topical, oral or both, and compared it against the Colombian clinical practice guidelines valid for that year in our country.
RESULTS: Three hundred sixty-nine patients were randomly collected, 221 women and 148 men. There were a correct adherence to guidelines in election of an antibiotic, its dosage, and time of use in 51.7%, 94.85%, and 76.1%, respectively. 37.1% of patients has being correctly prescribe globally, taking into consideration the three previously describe variables.
CONCLUSIONS: A no adherent antibiotic prescription was documented for less than half of the patients. In almost a quarter of the patients it was not prescribed for the right time and in most patients the correct dose was chosen. It is important to know the prescription pattern as it allows decisions to be made that lead to an adequate use of antibiotics, and thus prevent the development of antimicrobial resistance.

KEY WORDS: Acne vulgaris; Drug prescriptions; Drug resistance, microbial