An excerpt from a medical email I get weekly. Please take the time to read this and understand the info. This weeks topic:
Conquering Antibiotic Overuse
Medscape: It would be interesting to learn what leads to the most prescribing and most inappropriate prescribing by clinicians. Can you talk a bit about the key issues in both the outpatient and inpatient settings?
CDC: It is estimated that roughly 50% of antibiotics are unnecessarily prescribed in both inpatient and office settings. This is especially true for upper respiratory infections (URIs) like cough and cold illness, most of which are caused by viruses. Prescribing antibiotics for viral URIs is the most common misuse of these drugs. These infections will resolve on their own without antibiotics. In children, antibiotics are the most common cause of emergency department visits for adverse drug events. Children may have up to 9 colds each year. Four out of 10 children who present to an outpatient provider with the common cold receive an antibiotic, even though antibiotics are never indicated for a common cold.
Clinicians cite lack of time, perceived patient expectations, and diagnostic uncertainty as reasons that antibiotics may be prescribed when not needed. For example, prescribing an antibiotic can be quicker than taking the time to counsel a patient on appropriate use and about why antibiotics are not needed for viral illnesses. In addition, physicians are trained to be wary of missing serious treatable diseases and may prescribe an antibiotic when uncertain of the diagnosis because they are concerned about liability.
Filed under: Chiropractic Principles
