Seasonal Variation in an Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Alkharj

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the seasonal variations in dispensing antibiotic prescriptions in the outpatient setting of a public hospital in Alkharj.

Methodology: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. The outpatient prescriptions in 2017 and 2018 were collected from medical records in a public hospital in Alkharj.

The data include the number of prescribed antibiotics in general, the number of prescribed antibiotics in different months and seasons in the outpatient setting.

Results: In the outpatient setting in 2017 and 2018, antibiotics were prescribed excessively in most of the months. About 27.84 %of the prescriptions in 2017 were in spring season and about 26.64% of the prescriptions in 2018 were in autumn. Total number of antibiotics prescriptions in 2017 and 2018 were 5348 in spring followed by 5097 in autumn.

Conclusion: The results of the present study showed the widespread use of antibiotics by practitioners that was associated with season of prescribing. In general, there are excess use of antibiotics in all months. It is important to understand how the prescribing of antibiotic varies throughout the year to design an appropriate intervention to decrease incorrect antibiotic use.