Receiving Information on Antibiotic Prescription Rates Reduces Prescriptions, Study Finds

A new study found that “an effort to reduce antibiotic prescribing in one age-group had spillover effects on a broader population.” CIDRAP has the news.

The study was a “secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial conducted among family physicians in Ontario who prescribed antibiotics for patients aged 65 and older. In that trial, investigators observed a 5% relative reduction in antibiotic prescribing and 14% relative reduction prolonged duration prescribing among physicians who received a peer comparison feedback letter.” This study team then found that “the audit-and-feedback letters resulted in reductions in antibiotic prescribing and prolonged duration prescribing across all patient ages.”

The original trial randomly assigned enrolled family physicians to “receive a peer comparison antibiotic prescribing feedback letter or no correspondence. The letter provided recipients with the percentage of their peers who were prescribing fewer antibiotics than them and included information on patient harms, recommended antibiotic durations, and evidence-based communication tips.” The data on prescription rates was limited to patients 65 years or older.

A total of 4,964 family physicians were included in the study; 74.5% of the physicians were in the intervention group. The physicians who received the letters “showed a 7% relative reduction in antibiotic prescribing compared with the control group.” Despite the data only including those 65 or older, “the analysis also showed an 18% relative decrease across all age-groups in the number of antibiotic prescriptions exceeding 7 days duration among physicians in the intervention group.”