Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (23)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by MÖLSTAD, S.
Right arrow Articles by THIMANSSON, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by MÖLSTAD, S.
Right arrow Articles by THIMANSSON, H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Family Practice Vol. 11, No. 3, 282-286
© Oxford University Press 1994

research-article

Antibiotics Prescription in Primary Care: A 5-Year Follow-up of an Educational Programme

SIGVARD MÖLSTAD*,{ddagger}, ANDERS EKEDAHL**, BIRGITTA HOVELIUS{dagger} and HÅKAN THIMANSSON*

*Community Health Centre Höör
**Hjorton Pharmacy Lund
{dagger}Department of Family Medicine, Umeå University Umeå Sweden

{ddagger} Correspondence to: Sigvard Molstad, Community Health Centre, 24330 Höör, Sweden

An educational programme on the use of antibiotics for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in primary care, initiated among district physicians at the Community Health Centre of Höör, Sweden in 1985, resulted in an overall reduction in prescriptions for antibiotics, particularly broad-spectrum antibiotics. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effects of the programme on antibiotic prescription patterns at the centre. Since 1985, computerized records have been kept of every consultation at the centre, including details of the attending physician, the patient, diagnosis and type of antibiotic prescribed. Moreover, during a 3-month period in 1991, each pharmacy in the region recorded details of all prescriptions for antibiotics dispensed. Estimated immediately after the programme, the proportion of RTI patients prescribed antibiotics had fallen to 44%, a figure virtually unchanged 5 years later. During the subsequent five-year period, antibiotics dispensed at the pharmacy in Höör were further reduced from 14.1 to 13.2 defined daily doses 1000 inhabitants–1 day–1. As compared with district physicians at other community health centres in the region, those at Höör prescribed more penicillin V (80% of all antibiotic prescriptions) and less broad-spectrum antibiotics. The educational programme, combined with an active interest among district physicians at Höör in current research into antibiotic usage, has thus wrought enduring changes in the pattern of antibiotic prescription. A probable contributory factor was the district physicians' awareness that the computerized registration of diagnosis and treatment enables prescription patterns to be audited at an individual level.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Antimicrob ChemotherHome page
Y. Razon, S. Ashkenazi, A. Cohen, E. Hering, S. Amzel, H. Babilsky, A. Bahir, E. Gazala, and I. Levy
Effect of educational intervention on antibiotic prescription practices for upper respiratory infections in children: a multicentre study
J. Antimicrob. Chemother., November 1, 2005; 56(5): 937 - 940.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Fam PractHome page
N. Zwar, J. Henderson, H. Britt, K. McGeechan, and G. Yeo
Influencing antibiotic prescribing by prescriber feedback and management guidelines: a 5-year follow-up
Fam. Pract., February 1, 2002; 19(1): 12 - 17.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ThoraxHome page
J. Macfarlane, W F Holmes, and R. Macfarlane
Issues at the interface between primary and secondary care in the management of common respiratory disease bullet 6: Do hospital physicians have a role in reducing antibiotic prescribing in the community?
Thorax, February 1, 2000; 55(2): 153 - 158.
[Full Text]

Home page
 CLIN PEDIATRHome page
L. S. Barden, S. F. Dowell, B. Schwartz, and C. Lackey
Current Attitudes Regarding Use of Antimicrobial Agents: Results from Physicians' and Parents' Focus Group Discussions
Clinical Pediatrics, November 1, 1998; 37(11): 665 - 671.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 BMJHome page
D. Davis
Continuing medical education: Global health, global learning
BMJ, January 31, 1998; 316(7128): 385 - 389.
[Full Text]

Home page
 BMJHome page
J. Macfarlane, W. Holmes, R. Macfarlane, and N. Britten
Influence of patients' expectations on antibiotic management of acute lower respiratory tract illness in general practice: questionnaire study
BMJ, November 8, 1997; 315(7117): 1211 - 1214.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Arch Fam MedHome page
A. G. Mainous III, R. J. Zoorob, and W. J. Hueston
Current Management of Acute Bronchitis in Ambulatory Care: The Use of Antibiotics and Bronchodilators
Arch Fam Med, February 1, 1996; 5(2): 79 - 83.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch Fam MedHome page
H. A. Williamson Jr
Treatment of Acute Bronchitis: There's Much Work to Be Done
Arch Fam Med, February 1, 1996; 5(2): 84 - 85.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.