1. Point of care testing for urinary tract infection in primary care (POETIC): protocol for a randomised controlled trial of the clinical and cost effectiveness of FLEXICULT™ informed management of uncomplicated UTI in primary care
- Author
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Curt Burgman, Robin Howe, Nicolas Francis, Timothy Pickles, Paul Little, David Cohen, Nigel Kirby, Christopher C Butler, Emma Thomas-Jones, Micaela Gal, Theo Verheij, Emily Bongard, Carlos Llor, Janine Bates, Kate Rumsby, Kerenza Hood, Michael Moore, and Mandy Wootton
- Subjects
Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Evidence-based practice ,Cost effectiveness ,Antibiotic resistance ,Point-of-care testing ,Cost-Benefit Analysis ,Point-of-Care Systems ,Microbial Sensitivity Tests ,Urine ,law.invention ,Study Protocol ,Quality of life (healthcare) ,Randomized controlled trial ,law ,Culture Techniques ,Health care ,medicine ,Humans ,Disease management (health) ,Intensive care medicine ,Point-of-care-test ,Adult women ,Primary Health Care ,business.industry ,Near-patient testing ,Disease Management ,Primary care ,Urinary Tract Infection ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,Clinical trial ,Treatment Outcome ,Urinary Tract Infections ,Female ,business ,Family Practice - Abstract
Background Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the most frequent bacterial infection affecting women and account for about 15% of antibiotics prescribed in primary care. However, some women with a UTI are not prescribed antibiotics or are prescribed the wrong antibiotics, while many women who do not have a microbiologically confirmed UTI are prescribed antibiotics. Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing unnecessarily increases the risk of side effects and the development of antibiotic resistance, and wastes resources. POETIC is a randomised controlled trial of a Point Of Care Test (POCT) (Flexicult™) guided UTI management strategy for use in primary care, which may help General Practitioners more effectively decide both whether or not to prescribe antibiotics, and if so, to select the most appropriate antibiotic. Methods/design 614 adult female patients will be recruited from four primary care research networks (Wales, England, Spain, the Netherlands) and individually randomised to either POCT guided care or the guideline-informed ‘standard care’ arm. Urine and stool samples (where possible) will be obtained at presentation (day 1) and two weeks later for microbiological analysis. All participants will be followed up on the course of their illness and their quality of life, using a 2 week self-completed symptom diary. At 3 months, a primary care notes review will be conducted for evidence of further evidence of treatment failures, recurrence, complications, hospitalisations and health service costs. The primary objective is to compare appropriate antibiotic use on day 3 between the POCT and standard care arms using multi-level logistic regression to produce an odds ratio and associated 95% confidence interval. Costs of the two management approaches will be assessed in terms of the primary outcome. Discussion Although the Flexicult™ POCT is used in some countries in routine primary care, it’s clinical and cost effectiveness has never been evaluated in a randomised clinical trial. If shown to be effective, the use of this POCT could benefit individual sufferers and provide evidence for health care authorities to develop evidence based policies to combat the spread and impact of the unprecedented rise of infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria in Europe. Trial registration number ISRCTN65200697 (Registered 10 September 2013).
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