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Antibiotics are commonly prescribed for children with conditions for which they provide no benefit, including viral respiratory infections. Broad-spectrum antibiotic use is increasing, which adds unnecessary cost and promotes the development of antibiotic resistance.

To provide a nationally representative analysis of antibiotic prescribing in ambulatory pediatrics according to antibiotic classes and diagnostic categories and identify factors associated with broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing.

We used the National Ambulatory and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care surveys from 2006 to 2008, which are nationally representative samples of ambulatory care visits in the United States. We estimated the percentage of visits for patients younger than 18 years for whom antibiotics were prescribed …