{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T17:54:37Z","timestamp":1767635677155,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,4]],"date-time":"2026-01-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767484800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Antibiotics are commonly used in gynecology, yet only limited outpatient prescribing data are available in Germany. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of antibiotic prescriptions in gynecological practices and to identify patient and diagnostic factors. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted using anonymized electronic records from the IQVIA Disease Analyzer, including 344,187 women aged \u226516 years who had at least one gynecological visit in 2024. The primary outcome of interest was the prescription of an antibiotic. Consequently, the prevalence of antibiotic prescriptions was calculated overall and stratified by age group. Associations between potential factors and antibiotic prescriptions were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. Results: The overall prescription prevalence was 8.4% (29,007\/344,187). Regarding the age distribution within the prescribed sample, the highest percentages were observed among women aged 31\u201340 years (25.6%) and 16\u201330 years (25.4%), while those aged 51\u201360 and &gt;60 made up 12.9% and 19.1%, respectively. The most commonly prescribed agents were fosfomycin trometamol (35.9%), clindamycin (17.6%), and pivmecillinam (10.7%). Mastitis (OR 63.54, 95% CI 55.79\u201372.38), acute cystitis (OR 43.67, 95% CI 41.63\u201345.80), and unspecified urinary tract infection (OR 31.58, 95% CI 20.11\u201333.12) were strongly positively associated with AB prescription. Positive associations were also observed for acute vaginitis (OR 3.44, 95% CI 3.30\u20133.58), chlamydial infection (OR 6.27, 95% CI 5.77\u20136.81), and pregnancy (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.85\u20132.05). Negative associations were observed for dysmenorrhea (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.48\u20130.56), irregular menstruation (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.60\u20130.71), menopausal disorders (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.48\u20130.53), and ovarian cysts (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.72\u20130.84). Conclusions: Antibiotic use in gynecology is low and strongly diagnosis-driven, primarily for urogenital infections. Signals of inappropriate prescribing in patients with candidiasis suggest a need for improved diagnostic accuracy and guideline adherence.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics15010053","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,5]],"date-time":"2026-01-05T13:35:47Z","timestamp":1767620147000},"page":"53","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Antibiotic Prescription in Gynecological Practices in Germany"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Cleo","family":"Hieber","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Marburg University, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital, 35043 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2124-7227","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karel","family":"Kostev","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Marburg University, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital, 35043 Marburg, Germany"},{"name":"Epidemiology, IQVIA, 60549 Frankfurt am Main, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6798-5092","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marcel","family":"Konrad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Health & Social, FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management, 60486 Frankfurt am Main, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matthias","family":"Kalder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Marburg University, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital, 35043 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1186\/s12941-024-00681-8","article-title":"Aetiology and Use of Antibiotics in Pregnancy-Related Infections: Results of the WHO Global Maternal Sepsis Study (GLOSS), 1-Week Inception Cohort","volume":"23","author":"Bonet","year":"2024","journal-title":"Ann. 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