Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing: understanding clinicians’ perceptions to enable changes in prescribing practices.

Behavioral Economics and Ambulatory Antibiotic Stewardship: A Narrative Review

Commentaries on health services research

Antibiotics are the most frequently prescribed medications for children but inappropriate antibiotic prescribing is prevalent. The purpose of our study was to access the nationwide trend in antibiotic prescriptions, and to ascertain inappropriate prescribing for upper respiratory infections (URIs) in pre-school children in Japan. Data from the administrative claims database from 2005 January to 2014 September in Japan were examined. We identified outpatient antibiotic prescription claims and described prescription patterns of subjects who were followed from birth to 6 years of age. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate odd ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for factors associated with inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions. Of 155 556 children in the database, 51.6% were male and 48.4% were female. Antibiotics were prescribed for 66.4% of the cohort, with third generation cephalosporin the most prescribed (38.3%), followed by macrolides (25.8%), and penicillin (16.0%). Antibiotic prescriptions for non-bacterial URIs were associated with male gender (OR = 1.06, CI: 1.05-1.07), facility scale, non-pediatrics (OR = 2.11, CI: 2.08-2.14) and out-of-hour visit (OR = 1.64, CI: 1.61-1.68). Third generation cephalosporins and macrolides are widely prescribed to Japanese pre-school children. Furthermore, inappropriate prescriptions for non-bacterial URIs are associated with increasing age, gender, facility characteristics, non-pediatrics and out-of-hour visits.

The protocol of improving safe antibiotic prescribing in telehealth: A randomized trial

BackgroundBetween 15–50% of patients seen in ambulatory settings are prescribed an antibiotic. At least one third of this usage is considered unnecessary. In 2019, our institution implemented the MITIGATE Toolkit, endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for viral respiratory infections in emergency and urgent care settings. In February 2020 we identified our first hospitalized patient with SARS-CoV(2). In March, efforts to limit person-to-person contact led to shelter in place orders and substantial reorganization of our healthcare system. During this time we continued to track rates of unnecessary antibiotic prescribing.MethodsThis was a single center observational study. Electronic medical record data were accessed to determine antibiotic prescribing and diagnosis codes. We provided monthly individual feedback to urgent care prescribers, (Sep 2019-Mar 2020), primary care, and ED providers (Jan 2020 – Mar 2020) notifying them of their specific rate of unnecessary antibiotic prescribing and labeling them as a top performer or not a top performer compared to their peers. The primary outcome was rate of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.ResultsPre toolkit intervention, 14,398 patient visits met MITIGATE inclusion criteria and 12% received an antibiotic unnecessarily in Jan-April 2019. Post-toolkit intervention, 12,328 patient visits met inclusion criteria and 7% received an antibiotic unnecessarily in Jan-April 2020. In April 2020, patient visits dropped to 10–50% of what they were in March 2020 and April 2019. During this time the unnecessary antibiotic prescribing rate doubled in urgent care to 7.8% from 3.6% the previous month and stayed stable in primary care and the ED at 3.2% and 11.8% respectively in April compared to 4.6% and 10.4% in the previous month.ConclusionRates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing were reduced nearly in half from 2019 to 2020 across 3 ambulatory care settings. The increase in prescribing in April seen in urgent care and after providers stopped receiving their monthly feedback is concerning. Many factors may have contributed to this increase, but it raises concerns for increased inappropriate antibacterial usage as a side effect of the SARS-CoV(2) pandemic.DisclosuresAll Authors: No reported disclosures

China has one of the highest rates of antibiotic resistance. Existing studies document high rates of antibiotic prescription by primary care providers but there is little direct evidence on clinically inappropriate use of antibiotics or the drivers of antibiotic prescription. To assess clinically inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions among rural primary care providers, we employed unannounced standardized patients (SPs) who presented three fixed disease cases, none of which indicated antibiotics. We compared antibiotic prescriptions of the same providers in interactions with SPs and matching vignettes assessing knowledge of diagnosis and treatment to assess overprescription attributable to deficits in diagnostic knowledge, therapeutic knowledge and factors that lead providers to deviate from their knowledge of best practice. Overall, antibiotics were inappropriately prescribed in 221/526 (42%) SP cases. Compared with SP interactions, prescription rates were 29% lower in matching clinical vignettes (42% versus 30%, P < 0.0001). Compared with vignettes assessing diagnostic and therapeutic knowledge jointly, rates were 67% lower in vignettes with the diagnosis revealed (30% versus 10%, P < 0.0001). Antibiotic prescription in vignettes was inversely related to measures of diagnostic process quality (completion of checklists). Clinically inappropriate antibiotic prescription is common among primary care providers in rural China. While a large proportion of overprescription may be due to factors such as financial incentives tied to drug sales and perceived patient demand, our findings suggest that deficits in diagnostic knowledge are a major driver of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. Interventions to improve diagnostic capacity among providers in rural China are needed.

Financial strategies targeting healthcare providers to promote the prudent use of antibiotics: a systematic review of the evidence

Background: This study aims to evaluate the antimicrobial prescribing practices in hospital settings in Italy, focusing on the appropriateness of antibiotic use. Methods: This study was carried out through a retrospective review of medical records of patients admitted in three public hospitals located in Campania Region (Italy) between 1 January and 31 December 2018. Results: More than one third (34.2%) of patients received at least one inappropriate antibiotic prescription (antibiotic administered and not indicated). Being female, having a >1 Charlson comorbidity index score, and having a longer hospital stay were significant determinants of an inappropriate antibiotic prescription. Instead, patients who had had a non-urgent hospital admission, an infection on hospital admission, and a microbiological culture test during hospital stay were significantly less likely to have an inappropriate prescription. When the antibiotic prescriptions were analyzed, in 26.6% of cases they were not indicated, while among the 687 antibiotic prescriptions with indication, incorrect choice of antibiotics (36.8%) was the most common reason of the inappropriateness. Conclusions: The findings of the study indicate that the inappropriate use of antibiotics continues to be a relevant issue in the hospital setting and specific interventions are needed to encourage a wider utilization of diagnostic tools to practice targeted therapies and to counter the antimicrobial resistance.

Acute upper respiratory infections (AURI) are the leading causes of antibiotic prescribing in primary care although antibiotics are often not indicated. To gain an understanding of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of GPs in Singapore and the associated latent factors to guide the implementation of an effective programme to reduce antibiotic use in primary care. An anonymous survey on the KAP of antibiotic use in AURI of GPs in Singapore. KAP survey questionnaires were posted to all GPs from a database. To ascertain the latent factors affecting prescribing patterns, exploratory factor analysis was performed. Among 427 responses, 351 (82.2%) were from GPs working in private practice. It was found that 58.4% of GPs in the private versus 72.4% of those in the public sector recognised that >80% of AURIs were caused by viruses (P = 0.02). The majority of GPs (353/427; 82.7%) felt that antibiotics were overprescribed in primary care. Significant factors associated with low antibiotic prescribing were good medical knowledge and clinical competency (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 3.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.4 to 4.3), good clinical practice (aOR 2.7 [95% CI = 2.0 to 3.6]), availability of diagnostic tests (aOR 1.4 [95% CI = 1.1 to 1.8]), and desire to improve clinical practice (aOR 1.5 [95% CI = 1.2 to 1.9]). The conservative practice of giving antibiotics 'to be on the safe side' is significantly less likely to be associated with low antibiotic prescribing (aOR 0.7 [95% CI = 0.5 to 0.9]). This is the first KAP survey on antibiotic prescribing for AURI among GPs in Singapore. With the latent factors identified, future interventions should be directed at addressing these factors to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.

BackgroundThe pervasive, often inappropriate, use of antibiotics in healthcare settings has been identified as a major public health threat due to the resultant widespread emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In nursing homes (NH), as many as two-thirds of residents receive antibiotics each year and up to 75% of these are estimated to be inappropriate. The objective of this study was to characterize antibiotic therapy for NH residents and compare appropriateness based on setting of prescription initiation.MethodsThis was a retrospective, cross-sectional multi-center study that occurred in five NHs in southern Wisconsin between January 2013 and September 2014. All NH residents with an antibiotic prescribing events for suspected lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI), and urinary tract infections (UTI), initiated in-facility, from an emergency department (ED), or an outpatient clinic were included in this sample. We assessed appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing using the Loeb criteria based on documentation available in the NH medical record or transfer documents. We compared appropriateness by setting and infection type using the Chi-square test and estimated associations of demographic and clinical variables with inappropriate antibiotic prescribing using logistic regression.ResultsAmong 735 antibiotic starts, 640 (87.1%) were initiated in the NH as opposed to 61 (8.3%) in the outpatient clinic and 34 (4.6%) in the ED. Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for urinary tract infections differed significantly by setting: NHs (55.9%), ED (73.3%), and outpatient clinic (80.8%), P = .023. Regardless of infection type, patients who had an antibiotic initiated in an outpatient clinic had 2.98 (95% CI: 1.64–5.44, P < .001) times increased odds of inappropriate use.ConclusionsAntibiotics initiated out-of-facility for NH residents constitute a small but not trivial percent of all prescriptions and inappropriate use was high in these settings. Further research is needed to characterize antibiotic prescribing patterns for patients managed in these settings as this likely represents an important, yet under recognized, area of consideration in attempts to improve antibiotic stewardship in NHs.

To assess the extent to which antibiotic prescribing in general dental practice conforms to clinical guidelines and to describe factors associated with antibiotic prescription in the absence of spreading infection or systemic involvement. A cross-sectional study of the management of adult patients with acute dental conditions by General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) in Wales, UK. Clinical information on the management of patients was compared to clinical and prescribing guidelines published by the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme and the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK). Multilevel logistic regression was used to identify patient, practitioner and consultation characteristics predictive of antibiotic prescribing in the absence of infection. Antibiotics were prescribed to 57.4% of 568 patients. Over half of antibiotics (65.6%) were prescribed in situations where there was no evidence of spreading infection, and 70.6% were used without the provision of an operative intervention. Only 19.0% of antibiotics were prescribed in situations where their use was indicated by clinical guidelines. Factors associated (P < 0.05) with antibiotic prescription in the absence of infection were failure of previous operative treatment (Odds Ratio (OR) 13.57), shortage of clinical time to undertake treatment (OR 10.21), patients who were unable or unwilling to accept operative treatment (OR 4.89), patient requests for antibiotics (OR 3.69) and acute periodontal conditions (OR 3.37). A high level of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing was observed amongst the GDPs studied. Features of the healthcare environment, such as clinical time pressures, and patient-related characteristics, such as expectations for antibiotics and refusal of operative treatment, are associated with antibiotic prescribing in the absence of infection. Individuals responsible for the commissioning and delivery of dental services should seek to develop targeted interventions addressing these issues in order to ensure optimal antimicrobial stewardship within dentistry.

Urgent care centers (UCCs) have reported high rates of antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections. Prior UCC studies have generally been limited to single networks. Broadly generalizable stewardship efforts targeting common diagnoses are needed. This study examines the effectiveness of an antibiotic stewardship intervention in reducing inappropriate prescribing for bronchitis and viral upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in UCCs. A quality improvement study comparing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing rates in UCCs after the introduction of an antibiotic stewardship intervention. Forty-nine UCCs in 27 different networks from 18 states, including 1 telemedicine site. Urgent care clinicians from a national collaborative of UCCs, all members of the Urgent Care Association. The intervention included signing a commitment statement and selecting from 5 different intervention options during 3 plan-do-study-act cycles. The primary outcome was the percentage of urgent care encounters for viral URTIs or bronchitis with inappropriate prescribing, stratified by clinician engagement and diagnosis. A 3-month baseline and 9-month intervention period were compared using a regression model using a generalized estimating equation. Among 15,385 encounters, the intervention was associated with decreases in inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for bronchitis (48% relative decrease, aOR = 0.52; 95% CI, 0.33-0.83) and viral URTIs (33%, aOR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.55-0.82) among actively engaged clinicians compared to baseline. The intervention did not result in significant changes for clinicians not actively engaged. This intervention was associated with reductions in inappropriate prescribing among actively engaged clinicians. Implementing stewardship interventions in UCCs may reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for common diagnoses; however, active clinician engagement may be necessary.

Background: Antibiotics are prescribed for children both in hospital and community settings, particularly at preschool age. Italy shows a high rate of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions which may represent a serious problem in the hospital scenario. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing in the context of different paediatric subspecialties in a hospital setting. Methods: Antibiotics prescribing was retrospectively analysed in paediatric patients (0–18 years) admitted in the emergency paediatrics, general paediatrics, paediatric nephrology and rheumatology units between January and December 2019. Patients were stratified by age in neonates, infants, toddlers, children and adolescents. Assessments were conducted by trained local assessors and appropriateness was classified as appropriate, inappropriate and not assessable. Results: Empirical antibiotics were mainly prescribed following a diagnosis of respiratory, gastrointestinal and/or urinary infection. A total of 825 antibiotic prescriptions were recorded in the three subspecialties; 462 antibiotic prescriptions (56%) out of 825 were assessed as inappropriate and 55 prescriptions (6.7%) were not assessable. Inappropriateness considerably varied within subspecialties: the risk of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing was higher in emergency paediatrics and general paediatric than in children, according to age. Ceftriaxone and clarithromycin were the most inappropriate prescribed antibiotics in the emergency paediatrics whereas amoxicillin/clavulanic acid represented the most inappropriate antibiotic prescribed in general paediatrics. Conclusion: The present data may be useful in order to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in the paediatric setting; antibiotic stewardship and clinical improvement programs in hospital paediatric care are strongly recommended.

PurposeThis meta-analysis aims to evaluate inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in the Gulf region and determine the effect of pharmacist-led antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes on reducing inappropriateness.MethodArticles were searched, analysed, and quality...

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the use of streptococcal antigen tests and antibiotic prescription in general practice in Norway in relation to the national guidelines for sore throat. Design This study was based on a web-based survey. Setting Norwegian general practice. Subjects 4700 members of the Norwegian College of General Practice received the survey by E-mail. Main outcome measures General practitioner (GP) adherence to national guidelines. Results In total, 807 GPs responded and were included in the study. According to the guidelines, 20% and 30% of the GPs would perform unnecessary streptococcal antigen testing when presented with mild and severe infections respectively, while 52% would not perform the test at moderate infection. Phenoxymethylpenicillin was recommended by 95% of the GPs. Conclusion In this survey of self-selected GPs, we identified some non-adherence to National guidelines for streptococcal antigen testing and antibiotic prescribing. However, when antibiotic treatment was offered, the correct antibiotics were prescribed. Key points Norwegian guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of throat infections include the use of Centor criteria as a clinical tool to limit the unnecessary use of antibiotics. In this web-based survey, we investigated the use of streptococcal antigen tests and antibiotic prescription in general practice in relation to the national guidelines. •Streptococcal antigen tests were not always performed according to Norwegian guidelines, causing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. •National guidelines were followed in the choice of antibiotics for sore throat.