Abstract:

Background: Symptoms of acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) in children under five years are usually treated with antibacterial medicines. Inappropriate use of antibacterial medicines is a major public health issue of concern since it can promote emergence of resistance, wastage of financial resources, morbidity and mortality.

Aims: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with antibacterial use in managing symptoms of ARIs in households in rural communities of northern Uganda.

Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted among households selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected through interviews with care-givers of the children under five years, using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire.

Results: The prevalence of antibacterial medicines use was 60.2%(CI:54.5%-65.6%). The most commonly used antibacterials were amoxicillin n=358 (55.2%), cotrimoxazole n=100 (15.4%) and metronidazole n=74 (11.4%).The determinants of antibacterial medicine use included; not getting treatment from the health facility (OR: 0.54, CI:0.39-0.75, p < 0.001), households being located in peri-urban areas (OR:2.54, CI:1.34-4.84, p=0.005), child having ARIs without diarrhea, (OR:1.41, CI:0.99-1.99, p=0.054), having cough (OR:7.02, CI: 4.36-11.31, p < 0.001) and having fast breathing (OR: 1.87, CI: 0.98-3.55, p= 0.056).

Conclusions: The prevalence of use of antibacterial medicines in children under five years with symptoms of ARIs is high in northern Uganda. Interventions targeting both the community and prescribers should be adopted to ensure appropriate use of antibacterial medicines.

Keywords: Antibacterial medicines use, respiratory tract infections (RTIs), prevalence, determinants, children under five years, Uganda.