Evaluation of antibiotic prescribing and treatment outcomes among paediatric patients to tertiary care hospital Ajman, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

Background: Infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance are profoundly impacted by the extensive use of antibiotics, raising significant global concerns. Objectives: This study’s primary objective is to assess antibiotic usage in pediatric patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital for various infectious diseases, evaluating treatment outcomes, adverse events, de-escalation duration, and duration of hospitalization. Methodology: A retrospective study was conducted during from January 2022 to April 2023, at a tertiary care facility in Ajman, United Arab Emirates. Data was collected by physically reviewing patients’ medical records/files, with eligibility based on predefined criteria for paediatric patients with infectious diseases. Results: A total of 200 paediatric participants were included in this study. The age distribution showed that most participants fell into the age groups of 3 to 5.9 years (35.0%) and 6 to 8.9 years (29.0%), rest 36.0% aged between 9 and 12 years old. Body Surface Area (BSA) ranged from 0.40 to 1.89 m2, with the majority (61.0%) ranges in-between 0.40-0.89 m2. Fever was the most recorded symptom in 196 (98%) patients followed by cough (150; 75%) and sore throat (146; 73%). Among the male participants (n=68), many infections were bacterial (88.2%), followed by viral (3.8%), bacterial and viral co-infections (2.5%), and parasitic infections (1.3%).The data reveals a relatively even distribution of re-admissions within 30 days among patients on combination therapy and monotherapy, with no significant difference (p = 0.643). Conclusion: The study concluded limited practices of culture & sensitivity testing prior to initiation of antibiotic prescribing. The study also reported high success rate among the study population. The combination or monotherapy prescribing has no impact on the clinical outcomes of the study.