Prescribing of tetracycline to children less than 8 years old. A two-year epidemiologic study among ambulatory Tennessee medicaid recipients
W. A. Ray, C. F. Federspiel and W. Schaffner
The committee on Drugs of the American Academy of Pediatrics finds
virtually no indications for administering tetracyclines to children less
than 8 years old. This study analyzes tetracycline prescribing to
ambulatory children less than 8 years of age in the Tennessee Medicaid
program during a two-year period. Of the nearly 59,000 children in the
study, 4,026 (7%) received 7,046 tetracycline prescriptions. Twenty-seven
percent (527) of 1,947 participating physicians prescribed tetracycline; 26
physicians (5%) wrote 54% of the prescriptions for 45% of the children.
Physicians in family practice prescribed the greatest quantity of
tetracycline. Surgeons and internists prescribed more tetracycline to young
children than did pediatricians. Rural location of practice was
independently associated with increased tetracycline prescribing for all
specialties. Recent graduates from medical school were less apt to
prescribe tetracycline than were earlier graduates.
