Antibiotic prescribing for children in primary care and adherence to treatment guidelines.

Antibiotic use is unnecessarily high for paediatric respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in primary care, and implementation of treatment guidelines is difficult in practice. This study aims to assess guideline adherence to antibiotic prescribing for RTIs in children and examine potential variations across Dutch general practices. We conducted a retrospective observational study, deriving data on diagnoses and prescriptions from the electronic health records-based NIVEL Primary Care Database. Patients <18 years of age with a diagnosis of fever, ear and respiratory infections (International Classification of Primary Care codes A03, H71, R72, R75, R76, R78 and R81) during 2010-12 were included. Antibiotics were linked to episodes of illness. Two types of disease-specific outcomes were used to assess adherence to national guidelines regarding antibiotic prescribing choices. Inter-practice variability in adherence was assessed with multilevel analysis. Half of the episodes with RTIs with restrictive prescribing policy and 65% of episodes with pneumonia were treated with antibiotics. General practitioners prescribed antibiotics for 40% of episodes with bronchitis, even though guidelines discourage antibiotic prescribing. First-choice antibiotics were prescribed in 50%-85% of episodes with selected diseases, with lowest values for narrow-spectrum penicillins. Levels of adherence to guidelines varied widely between diagnoses and between practices. Most paediatric RTIs in the Netherlands continue to be treated with antibiotics conservatively. Potential aspects of concern are the inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis and the underuse of some first-choice antibiotics. Continuing progress may be achieved by targeting practices with lower adherence rates to guidelines.

Ivanovska V ，Hek K ，Mantel Teeuwisse AK ，Leufkens HG ，Nielen MM ，van Dijk L ... -  《-》

Reduction in antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections in Swedish primary care- a retrospective study of electronic patient records.

Tyrstrup M ，Beckman A ，Mölstad S ，Engström S ，Lannering C ，Melander E ，Hedin K ... -  《BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES》

Antibiotic prescribing in relation to diagnoses and consultation rates in Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden: use of European quality indicators.

Tyrstrup M ，van der Velden A ，Engstrom S ，Goderis G ，Molstad S ，Verheij T ，Coenen S ，Adriaenssens N ... -  《-》

Antibiotic management of children with infectious diseases in Dutch Primary Care.

Childhood infections are common in general practice. Although clinical guidelines recommend restrictive antibiotic use for children, antibiotics are too often prescribed. The aim of this study was to obtain insight in antibiotic prescribing for children related to clinical diagnoses. This is pivotal to define improvement strategies in the antibiotic management. In this observational study, we used consultation data collected from 45 general practices in the Netherlands in 2012. Infectious disease episode incidences, the number of antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 person-years, the proportion of episodes with an antibiotic prescription and the choice of antibiotic subclass were analysed for the most relevant diagnoses over different ages. A total of 262 antibiotic courses were prescribed per 1000 person-years on average, with the highest number among children of 1 year (714/1000 person-years). Antibiotics were prescribed in 24% of infectious disease episodes. Acute upper respiratory tract infection (RTI) was the most common reason to visit the GP (173/1000 person-years), and the second most frequent indication to prescribe antibiotics. Antibiotics were most often prescribed for acute otitis media (58/1000 person-years). Amoxicillin dominated prescribing (55%), followed by macrolides (14%) and amoxicillin/clavulanate (10%), prescribing of narrow-spectrum antibiotics was low (10%). This detailed insight in antibiotic management of childhood infections shows targets for Dutch improvement strategies: (i) prevent antibiotic prescribing for acute upper RTI and bronchitis; (ii) stimulate the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics; and (iii) reduce the use of macrolides and amoxicillin/clavulanate. Furthermore, this information is helpful to compare antibiotic policy between countries.

Dekker ARJ ，Verheij TJM ，van der Velden AW 《-》

Age-Specific Antibiotic Prescribing and Adherence to Guidelines in Pediatric Patients in Primary Care.

Ivanovska V ，Hek K ，Mantel-Teeuwisse AK ，Leufkens HGM ，van Dijk L ... -  《-》