Antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections in ambulatory practice in the United States, 1997-1999: does physician specialty matter?

The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice
Olivier T Rutschmann, Marisa Elena Domino

Abstract

The dangers of overuse of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections (URIs) has been widely recognized, but the rate of change in prescribing patterns in recent years is unknown. Data on the use of antibiotics for URIs was extracted from the 1997 to 1999 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (a national multistage probability sample survey of patients' office visits to office-based physicians). Adult patients (>/=18 years) with a primary diagnosis of URI (bronchitis, common colds, and other acute upper respiratory infections) were included. The decision to prescribe antibiotics was modeled as a function of patient, physician, and practice characteristics using logistic regression. The rate of antibiotic prescription for URIs decreased from 52.1% in 1997 to 41.5% in 1999. In a multivariate logistic regression model, treatment by general internal medicine physicians [odds ratio (OR), 0.37; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.18 to 0.76] was associated with lower prescription rates. Of patients visiting general internal medicine physicians for URIs, 36.2% received antibiotics compared with 42.9% of those seeing a general/family medicine physician. Patients treated by their primary care physicians had a higher risk of receiving ant...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 6, 2009·The American Journal of Emergency Medicine·Sherrie L AspinallMichael J Fine
Oct 27, 2007·The Lancet Infectious Diseases·Jarold L CosbyChristopher C Butler
Aug 1, 2014·Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety·Edward EwenMarci Drees
Mar 11, 2015·The Milbank Quarterly·Nancy R Kressin, Peter W Groeneveld
Nov 21, 2013·The Lancet Infectious Diseases·Ramanan LaxminarayanOtto Cars
May 4, 2016·Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy·Rachel McKayDavid M Patrick
Feb 11, 2012·Journal of Korean Medical Science·Kyung-Hyun ChoiSoonman Kwon
Mar 7, 2008·Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety·Khalid A J Al KhajaShailendra S Handu
Jul 28, 2016·Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery·Doron Steinberg, Michael Friedman

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Antifungals

An antifungal, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycosis such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis, cryptococcal meningitis, and others. Discover the latest research on antifungals here.

Acute viral rhinopharyngitis

Acute viral rhinopharyngitis, also known as "common cold", is an acute, self-limiting viral infection of the upper respiratory tract involving the nose, sinuses, pharynx and larynx. Discover the latest research on acute viral rhinopharyngitis here.

Antifungals (ASM)

An antifungal, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycosis such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis, cryptococcal meningitis, and others. Discover the latest research on antifungals here.