Preferences of antibiotic use in children less than five in physicians working health centers of primary level in peri-urban areas of Lima, Peru

Objectives. To describe physicians' preferences of antibiotic use in children less than 5 years in health centers of primary level in three periurban districts in Lima, Perú. Material and methods. A structured survey was applied to 218 general practitioners from three health networks of Lima. The survey included six typical clinical cases in children under 5 years with questions about antibiotic use: the cases were common cold, pharyngitis, pneumonia, bronchial obstructive syndrome, watery diarrhea and dysentery. Results. 81.6% of the physicians responded that more than a quarter of the patients they attended were children under five years. 15.6% of the general physicians would use an antibiotic for common cold treatment. For dysentery treatment 90.4% would use antibiotics, the frequently used were Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) and Furazolidone. 86.2% of physicians would recommend an antibiotic for pharyngitis. In a watery diarrhea case 32.7% of the doctors would use. In the case of bronchospasm, 73% of the doctors would recommend an antibiotic. 96.3% would recommend antibiotics for pneumonia. The perception of the degree of mother's satisfaction increased the risk of inappropriate prescription of antibiotics OR: 1.6, p=0.031, 95% CI: 1.1-2.6). Conclusions. There is tendency to overuse antibiotics for diagnoses such as pharyngitis and bronchospasm, as well as in cases of watery diarrhea and common cold, the reason could be that a large number of children under five years are treated by general practitioners without training in pediatric care.