2023, Volume 16, Issue 12, pp 1818 – 1824

Dentists’ attitudes and prescription practices for analgesics and antibiotics in Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq

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Authors and Affiliations

Corresponding Author: Zainab Azal Mahdi, Department of Basic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Kirkuk, Kirkuk, Iraq. E-mail: zainabazal@uokirkuk.edu.iq

Abstract

The inappropriate use of analgesics and antibiotics is a widespread issue among dentists globally, leading to the risk of over-prescription that could negatively affect patient health and quality of life. This study aimed to assess the prescribing patterns of analgesics and antibiotics by dentists in Kirkuk City, Iraq, focusing on their attitudes, knowledge levels, and practices regarding these medications. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 280 dentists in Kirkuk City. The dentists were contacted via their work email addresses, and they responded to a survey. Descriptive statistics, including frequency analysis, were employed to evaluate the appropriateness of analgesic and antibiotic prescriptions for different dental conditions. The first-choice analgesic for 44.6% of dentists was mefenamic acid, followed by paracetamol (31.1%). Regarding antibiotic use, 56.8% of dentists in Kirkuk City reported using antibiotics for empirical and direct therapy. Other dentists (43.2%) revealed that they did not have enough information regarding antibiotic group preference in empirical therapy. 106 of the participants (37.85%) recommended the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in the treatment of bacterial infections. However, most (45%) were unfamiliar with the group preferences in empirical therapy. Dentists in Kirkuk City showed variations in knowledge and awareness regarding using analgesics and antibiotics. This requires further education and training on proper analgesics and antibiotic stewardship guidelines.

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About this article

PMC ID: 10994614
PubMed ID: 
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2023-0405

Article Publishing Date (print): 12 2023
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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