Evaluation of the Appropriateness of Pediatric Cefdinir Prescribing

We evaluated the appropriateness of cefdinir prescribing in an integrated health care system. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of cefdinir prescribing for children aged 0 to 17 years old from 2005 to 2020 with acute otitis media, sinusitis, streptococcal pharyngitis, community-acquired pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and viral respiratory tract infections. The percentage of potentially inappropriate prescriptions was compared by location, provider specialty, and provider type using the chi-square test. A total of 93 748 cefdinir prescriptions were prescribed to pediatric patients, with 53 642 (57%) deemed as potentially inappropriate. Encounters in emergency and urgent care settings were more likely than ambulatory settings to be associated with inappropriate prescribing of cefdinir ( P < .001). Non–pediatric-trained providers were responsible for 46.8% of the potentially inappropriate cefdinir prescriptions and were more likely to prescribe potentially inappropriate cefdinir prescriptions compared with pediatric-trained providers ( P < .001). Advanced practice providers were more likely than physician providers to prescribe potentially inappropriate cefdinir prescriptions ( P < .001).