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Prescription of antibiotics to children with acute otitis media in Danish general practice.
- Source :
-
BMC Family Practice . 8/27/2020, Vol. 21 Issue 1, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p. 3 Charts, 2 Graphs. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Background: Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common and most often self-limiting infection in childhood, usually managed in general practice. Even though antibiotics are only recommended when certain diagnostic and clinical criteria are met a high antibiotic prescription rate is observed. The study's objective was to analyse associations between patient- and general practitioner (GP) characteristics and antibiotic prescribing for children with AOM in an effort to explain the high antibiotic prescribing rates. Methods: All general practices in the Northern, Southern and Central regions of Denmark were invited to record symptoms, examinations, findings and antibiotic treatment for all children ≤7 years of age diagnosed with AOM during a four-week winter period in 2017/2018. Associations were analysed by means of multivariate logistic regressions. The study design was cross-sectional. Results: GPs from 60 general practices diagnosed 278 children with AOM of whom 207 (74%) were prescribed antibiotics, most often penicillin V (60%). About half of the children had tympanometry performed. Antibiotic prescribing rates varied considerably between practices (0–100%). Antibiotic prescribing was associated with fever (odds ratio (OR) 3.69 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.93–7.05), purulent ear secretion (OR 2.35 95% CI 1.01–5.50) and poor general condition (OR 3.12 95% CI 1.31–7.46), and the practice's antibiotic prescribing rate to other patients with symptoms of an acute respiratory tract infection (OR 2.85 CI 95% 1.07–7.60) and specifically to other children with AOM (OR 4.15 CI 95% 1.82–9.47). Conclusion: GPs' antibiotic prescribing rates for children with AOM vary considerably even considering the of signs, symptoms, request for antibiotics, and use of tympanometry. Interventions to reduce overprescribing should be targeted high-prescribing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *ANTIBIOTICS
*IMPEDANCE audiometry
*CONFIDENCE intervals
*DRUG prescribing
*FAMILY medicine
*FEVER
*PENICILLIN
*OTITIS media
*RESPIRATORY infections
*PHYSICIAN practice patterns
*MULTIPLE regression analysis
*CROSS-sectional method
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*ODDS ratio
*DISEASE risk factors
*CHILDREN
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712296
- Volume :
- 21
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- BMC Family Practice
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 145346734
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-020-01248-0