Indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of Colombia: A cross-sectional study

Inappropriate use of antibiotics plays a key role in increasing bacterial resistance. The aim was to determine the prescription patterns and approved and unapproved indications for the use of penicillins in a group of patients from Colombia. This was a cross-sectional study on the use of penicillins...

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Main Authors: Luis Fernando Valladales-Restrepo, Brayan Stiven Aristizábal-Carmona, Luisa María Londoño-Toro, Mariavictoria del Valle Jaramillo-Lima, Mariana Osorno-Ríos, Jorge Enrique Machado-Alba
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S141386702500073X
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author Luis Fernando Valladales-Restrepo
Brayan Stiven Aristizábal-Carmona
Luisa María Londoño-Toro
Mariavictoria del Valle Jaramillo-Lima
Mariana Osorno-Ríos
Jorge Enrique Machado-Alba
author_facet Luis Fernando Valladales-Restrepo
Brayan Stiven Aristizábal-Carmona
Luisa María Londoño-Toro
Mariavictoria del Valle Jaramillo-Lima
Mariana Osorno-Ríos
Jorge Enrique Machado-Alba
author_sort Luis Fernando Valladales-Restrepo
collection DOAJ
description Inappropriate use of antibiotics plays a key role in increasing bacterial resistance. The aim was to determine the prescription patterns and approved and unapproved indications for the use of penicillins in a group of patients from Colombia. This was a cross-sectional study on the use of penicillins in outpatients. The subjects were identified from a population-based drug dispensing database. Approved and unapproved indications were determined from records of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States and the National Institute of Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA) of Colombia. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed. A total of 137,070 patients were identified; the average age was 35.8 ± 23.5 years, and 56.2 % were women. Amoxicillin (73.4 %), dicloxacillin (11.7 %) and sultamicillin (6.0 %) were the most prescribed penicillins, mainly for upper respiratory tract infections (43.0 %). In 68.9 % cases, penicillins were used for approved indications, especially to treat Helicobacter pylori (17.3 %). In 31.1 % of cases, penicillin prescriptions were used for unapproved indications (acute rhinopharyngitis: 8.1 %). Patients with skin and soft tissue infections (aOR = 2.82; 95 % CI 2.57‒3.09), with lower respiratory tract infections (aOR = 2.02; 95 % CI 1.89‒2.16), and those treated with dicloxacillin (aOR = 2.84; 95 % CI 2.07‒3.89) were more likely to be prescribed penicillins for unapproved indications. Amoxicillin was the most widely used penicillin in outpatients. Penicillins were frequently used for unapproved indications not recommended by drug regulatory agencies.
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spelling doaj-art-8bbd4402d25c4bf89a6674366ad5618c2025-08-20T02:39:44ZengElsevierBrazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases1413-86702025-09-0129510457210.1016/j.bjid.2025.104572Indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of Colombia: A cross-sectional studyLuis Fernando Valladales-Restrepo0Brayan Stiven Aristizábal-Carmona1Luisa María Londoño-Toro2Mariavictoria del Valle Jaramillo-Lima3Mariana Osorno-Ríos4Jorge Enrique Machado-Alba5Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira-Audifarma S.A, Grupo de Investigación en Farmacoepidemiología y Farmacovigilancia, Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia; Fundación Universitaria Autónoma de las Américas, Facultad de Medicina, Grupo de Investigación Biomedicina, Pereira, Colombia; Fundación Universitaria Autónoma de las Américas, Facultad de Medicina, Semillero de Investigación en Farmacología Geriátrica, Grupo de Investigación Biomedicina, Pereira, Risaralda, ColombiaFundación Universitaria Autónoma de las Américas, Facultad de Medicina, Semillero de Investigación en Farmacología Geriátrica, Grupo de Investigación Biomedicina, Pereira, Risaralda, ColombiaUniversidad Tecnológica de Pereira-Audifarma S.A, Grupo de Investigación en Farmacoepidemiología y Farmacovigilancia, Pereira, Risaralda, ColombiaUniversidad Tecnológica de Pereira-Audifarma S.A, Grupo de Investigación en Farmacoepidemiología y Farmacovigilancia, Pereira, Risaralda, ColombiaFundación Universitaria Autónoma de las Américas, Facultad de Medicina, Semillero de Investigación en Farmacología Geriátrica, Grupo de Investigación Biomedicina, Pereira, Risaralda, ColombiaUniversidad Tecnológica de Pereira-Audifarma S.A, Grupo de Investigación en Farmacoepidemiología y Farmacovigilancia, Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia; Corresponding author.Inappropriate use of antibiotics plays a key role in increasing bacterial resistance. The aim was to determine the prescription patterns and approved and unapproved indications for the use of penicillins in a group of patients from Colombia. This was a cross-sectional study on the use of penicillins in outpatients. The subjects were identified from a population-based drug dispensing database. Approved and unapproved indications were determined from records of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States and the National Institute of Food and Drug Surveillance (INVIMA) of Colombia. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed. A total of 137,070 patients were identified; the average age was 35.8 ± 23.5 years, and 56.2 % were women. Amoxicillin (73.4 %), dicloxacillin (11.7 %) and sultamicillin (6.0 %) were the most prescribed penicillins, mainly for upper respiratory tract infections (43.0 %). In 68.9 % cases, penicillins were used for approved indications, especially to treat Helicobacter pylori (17.3 %). In 31.1 % of cases, penicillin prescriptions were used for unapproved indications (acute rhinopharyngitis: 8.1 %). Patients with skin and soft tissue infections (aOR = 2.82; 95 % CI 2.57‒3.09), with lower respiratory tract infections (aOR = 2.02; 95 % CI 1.89‒2.16), and those treated with dicloxacillin (aOR = 2.84; 95 % CI 2.07‒3.89) were more likely to be prescribed penicillins for unapproved indications. Amoxicillin was the most widely used penicillin in outpatients. Penicillins were frequently used for unapproved indications not recommended by drug regulatory agencies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S141386702500073XAmoxicillinColombiaCommon coldHelicobacter pyloriInappropriate prescribingPenicillins
spellingShingle Luis Fernando Valladales-Restrepo
Brayan Stiven Aristizábal-Carmona
Luisa María Londoño-Toro
Mariavictoria del Valle Jaramillo-Lima
Mariana Osorno-Ríos
Jorge Enrique Machado-Alba
Indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of Colombia: A cross-sectional study
Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases
Amoxicillin
Colombia
Common cold
Helicobacter pylori
Inappropriate prescribing
Penicillins
title Indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of Colombia: A cross-sectional study
title_full Indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of Colombia: A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of Colombia: A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of Colombia: A cross-sectional study
title_short Indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of Colombia: A cross-sectional study
title_sort indications and prescriptions of penicillins in a population of colombia a cross sectional study
topic Amoxicillin
Colombia
Common cold
Helicobacter pylori
Inappropriate prescribing
Penicillins
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S141386702500073X
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