ReviewThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2003
Do delayed prescriptions reduce antibiotic use in respiratory tract infections? A systematic review.
Review in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 42 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Immediate versus delayed versus no antibiotics for respiratory infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Clinician-targeted interventions to influence antibiotic prescribing behaviour for acute respiratory infections in primary care: an overview of systematic reviews.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Delayed antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Interventions to improve safe and effective medicines use by consumers: an overview of systematic reviews.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Results from a Patient-Based Health Education Intervention in Reducing Antibiotic Use for Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in the Private Sector Primary Care Setting in Singapore.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2017Trial
- Reducing antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory tract infections in family practice: results of a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating a multifaceted peer-group-based intervention.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2016Trial
- Delayed antibiotic prescribing strategies for respiratory tract infections in primary care: pragmatic, factorial, randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2014Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Training family physicians in shared decision-making to reduce the overuse of antibiotics in acute respiratory infections: a cluster randomized trial.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2012Trial
- The effect of watchful waiting compared to immediate test ordering instructions on general practitioners' blood test ordering behaviour for patients with unexplained complaints; a randomized clinical trial (ISRCTN55755886).Implementation science : IS · 2012Trial
- Stemming the Tide of Antibiotic Resistance (STAR): a protocol for a trial of a complex intervention addressing the 'why' and 'how' of appropriate antibiotic prescribing in general practice.BMC family practice · 2009Trial
- Point-of-care C-reactive protein testing and antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections: a randomized controlled trial.Annals of family medicineTrial
- Influence of watchful waiting on satisfaction and anxiety among patients seeking care for unexplained complaints.Annals of family medicineTrial
- How, why and when are delayed (back-up) antibiotic prescriptions used in primary care? A realist review integrating concepts of uncertainty in healthcare.BMC public health · 2024Review
- Exploring drivers and challenges influencing antibiotic prescribing in outpatient settings and possible mitigation strategies in the United Arab Emirates: a qualitative study.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2023Article
- Potential Saving of Antibiotics for Respiratory Infections in Several European Countries: Insights from Market Research Data.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Patients' acceptance of placebo antibiotics in Japan: a prescription for antimicrobial resistance.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2022Article
- The Case against Antibiotics and for Anti-Virulence Therapeutics.Microorganisms · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Comment on
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is concern about the increasing resistance of antibiotics to common bacteria. Delayed prescribing for respiratory tract infections is a strategy that may reduce the use of antibiotics.
aimTo systematically review controlled trials of delayed prescriptions to establish their capacity to reduce antibiotic intake. DESIGN OF STUDY: A systematic review of the literature.
settingFour studies were conducted in the United Kingdom and one in New Zealand.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE from 1966 to April 2003, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register using the following terms: 'delayed', 'antibiotics', 'prescriptions', and 'back-up' (as in back-up prescription). We included controlled trials of studies in which the intervention was a delayed prescription compared to an immediate prescription for patients with upper respiratory tract infections. The studies were selected independently and the results compared. Disagreements were resolved by discussion. The data and quality of the studies were extracted and assessed independently by two of the authors.
resultsFour randomised controlled trials and one before-after controlled trial contributed to the review. The relative risk in the randomised trials for lower antibiotic usage when a delayed prescription was given ranged from 0.54 for the common cold to 0.25 for otitis media.
conclusionThe consistent reduction in antibiotic usage in the five controlled trials included in this review suggests that delayed prescription is an effective means of reducing antibiotic usage for acute respiratory infections. The duration of delay for prescriptions ranged widely, from 1 to 7 days.
Indexed as
Identifiers
14702908PMC1314731What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.