Alarmingly high rates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing to older and Black patients, finds US study

Almost three-quarters of antibiotics prescriptions to patients aged 65 years or older, and two thirds to Black patients, are inappropriate, according to a study analysing over 7 billion visits to doctor’s offices, hospital clinics and emergency departments by US adults and children over 7 years.

Of these visits 11% (almost 8 million) resulted in antibiotic prescriptions. The most common reasons for inappropriate prescriptions were for illnesses that are not caused by a bacterial infection such as non-bacterial skin conditions, viral respiratory tract infections, and bronchitis.