Assessment of antibiotic use in upper respiratory tract infection at emergency department of Hospital Sungai Buloh / Mohamad Noor Zairullail

Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is mostly viral in aetiology, but patients presenting with such complaints are frequently prescribed antibiotics. The objectives of this study are to find out the prescribing pattern of antibiotic in treating URTis of adult patients in Emergency Department of Hospital Sungai Buloh. This is a retrospective observational study done in the ED Hospital Sungai Buloh (EDHSGB). All outpatient data received in May 2014 with relevant diagnoses were analysed.200 URTI patients were included in the study. 76.5% had antibiotic prescribed. The most common antibiotics given in the ED were augmentin with azithromycin.Medical Assistants (MAs) were significantly more likely to prescribed antibiotics compared to Medical Officers (MOs) (p<0.001). Prescribers were significantly influenced by the patient's age, severity of the symptoms and specific diagnosis when prescribing antibiotics for URTI (p<0.001).