Study: Antibiotics Over-Prescribed By GPs
Posted on: Friday, 21 September 2007, 00:00 CDT
Dutch researchers found that about 50 percent of antibiotics prescribed by primary care physicians for respiratory tract infections are unnecessary.
Huug J. van Duijn of the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care from the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands, looked at the records of 163 doctors from 85 Dutch practices over a 12-month period. They also surveyed the doctors' attitudes toward prescribing antibiotics for respiratory tract infections.
Doctors may give out antibiotics unnecessarily to defend themselves against unforeseen complications, even if these are unlikely to materialize, suggested van Duijn.
However, Dutch physicians prescribe relatively small antibiotic volumes.
Even in the Netherlands there is an over-prescribing of antibiotics; about 50 percent of the antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory tract episodes are not in accordance with Dutch national guidelines, van Duijn said in a statement. Considering costs, side-effects and the growing resistance to pathogens, it is important to rationalize antibiotic prescribing as much as possible.
The findings are published in the journal BMC Family Practice.
Source: United Press International
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