Background: To provide an overall picture of oral antibiotic use in Japan, we conducted a survey of patients who had been prescribed oral antibiotics. In addition, factors potentially associated with compliance were evaluated.
Methods: General practitioners at 155 GP practices throughout Japan participated in the survey. Questionnaires were collected from 1068 subjects visiting those GP practices (676 females; median age 38 y), with a collection rate of 82.9%.
Results: According to this survey, the overall percentage of fully compliant subjects was 74.7%. Subgroup analyses showed that compliance tended to be higher with a shorter duration of prescription and fewer doses per day, and also with a greater ease of understanding of the explanation of treatment provided by the doctor. In multivariate analysis, age, pharyngitis, number of doses per day, duration of prescription, intention to return for follow-up, and ease of understanding the explanation of treatment given by the doctor showed a statistically significant association with compliance.
Conclusions: Based on our survey results, prescribing drugs taken with a minimal number of daily doses in a shorter regimen appears to be an effective strategy for improving compliance. It appears that doctors also need to raise awareness of the importance of taking antibiotics properly by clearly explaining their purpose and significance.