2022 Volume 48 Issue 7 Pages 292-301
Considering the current situation of serious antimicrobial resistance, a national action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AP) has been passed in Japan. As it is essential to determine the extent to which dentists are aware of AP, a mail-based questionnaire survey regarding recognition of the AP was performed by targeting dentists in Sapporo city. The response rate for this questionnaire was 36.1％ (356/985). The results indicated that azithromycin is prescribed by dentists who recognize the AP (odd ratio (OR) = 1.75 (95％ confidence interval (CI): 1.03 - 2.95), P = 0.04). Simultaneously, dentists who do not recognize the AP choose antimicrobials based on the knowledge obtained at lectures in a university (OR = 0.23 (95％ CI: 0.10 - 0.51), P < 0.01) and faropenem is prescribed by dentists who do not recognize the AP (OR = 0.13 (95％ CI: 0.03 - 0.68), P = 0.02). Dentists who did not issue out-of-hospital prescriptions constituted 79.8％ (281/352), suggesting that dental doctors may hardly have any relationship with pharmacists. It is thus necessary to enhance coordination between dentists and pharmacists for promoting the proper use of antimicrobials.
