A retrospective study on antibiotic use in different clinical departments of a Teaching Hospital in Zawiya, Libya

A cross-sectional retrospective drug utilization study was conducted in different wards of the Zawiya teaching hospital, Libya, over a 15-month period. One hundred prescriptions were examined, of which 51% were for females. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicators (utilization in defined daily doses (DDD); DDD/1000inh/ day) were used and the ATC/DDD method was implemented. The most frequently prescribed antibiotic (30 occurrences) was amoxicillin+clavulanic acid, while the least frequent (once) was neomycin or cloxacillin. The DDD/1000inh/day of amoxicillin+clavulanic acid was the highest (11.69) and that of ciprofloxacin was lowest (2.86). The ward with the highest number of prescribed antibiotics (35%) was surgery, while the ward with the lowest number (9%) was ENT. Average treatment period was found to be five days. In conclusion, our data showed an overuse of amoxicillin+clavulanic acid in contrast to other antibiotics. High pharmacological effectiveness against most local and systemic infections, low incidence of side effects, and the availability of many suitable dosage forms with different strengths was thought to be the reason that prescribers tended to prefer amoxicillin+clavulanic acid over other antibiotics. This study showed a need for microbiological investigation before treatment of infections. This also helps physicians to have a more precise idea about prescriptive patterns prevalent in the Libyan community.