Antibiotic use for common illnesses in children living with disability: a multi-country study across 42 low- and middle-income countries

作者：Shengyue Qiu, Mingli Xu, Yuanyang Wu, Chaojie Liu, Xiying Li, Xinyi Yang, Haohai Xia, Ruonan Wang, Zhiwei Ma, Fanqian Meng, Xinping Zhang, Gordon G. Liu, Hannah Kuper, Shanquan Chen, Lianping Yang · 发表于：EClinicalMedicine · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103326 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Antibiotic Use and Resistance、Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections、Respiratory viral infections research

Background: Approximately 240 million children worldwide are living with disabilities. Understanding the association between disability status and reported antibiotic use for common illnesses can help develop strategies to address the critical intersection of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and disability. Methods: Data were collected from 42 low- and middle-income countries through the UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2017-2023). Disability status was assessed using the Washington Group-Child Functioning Module. Reported antibiotic use was measured by whether children with disabilities received antibiotic treatment for common childhood illnesses. Logistic regression models were applied to investigate the association between disability status and the prevalence of acute respiratory infection (ARI), diarrhea, and fever in the past two weeks, as well as reported antibiotic use for these illnesses. Analyses controlled for age, sex, place of residence, mother's education, the number of children under five in the household and country. Findings: The study included 301,857 children, 6.9% of whom were living with disabilities. Children with disabilities were more likely to experience common illnesses compared to those without disabilities: aOR = 1.78 (95% CI: 1.34-2.36) for ARI and aOR = 1.54 (95% CI: 1.22-1.96) for fever. The odds of antibiotic use among children with disabilities were comparable to those without disabilities: aOR = 1.13 (95% CI: 0.68-1.87) for AR...