Women more likely to be users of antibiotics than men

DUBAI // Women are 27 per cent more likely to use antibiotics than men, according to a multinational study of more than 4.4 million patients.

Research by Tubingen University Hospital in Germany published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy sheds further light on the chronic global misuse of antibiotics that has led to a surge in drug-proof superbugs.

Data was compiled from 11 studies in the UK, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Israel, Denmark and Germany.

Results showed women between the ages of 16 and 34 were 36 per cent more likely to use antibiotics than men, and 40 per cent more likely in the 35 to 54 age group.

The antibiotics with the highest gender differences were those used for respiratory tract infections.

The studies used data from prospective national or regional surveillance of community pharmacy, insurance or national healthcare systems.

Dr Arthur Williams, a family medicine specialist at the American Spine Centre in Dubai, said basic anatomy was likely to be the major factor.

“From my experience of prescribing antibiotics daily, women tend to have a wider range of infective illnesses,” he said. “They suffer from more urinary tract and gynaecological infections than men, so this could be a factor. I’m not surprised by these figures because the female anatomy is different.”