Trial reportCanadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien2010
Postdated versus usual delayed antibiotic prescriptions in primary care: Reduction in antibiotic use for acute respiratory infections?
Trial report in Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 6 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Immediate versus delayed versus no antibiotics for respiratory infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic literature review and meta-analysis of community pharmacist-led interventions to optimise the use of antibiotics.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Systematic review of patient-oriented interventions to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections.Systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Reduction of antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory tract infections in primary care: a systematic review.Implementation science : IS · 2018Pooled it
- Delayed antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia in adult outpatients.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Prescribing and Dispensing Delayed Antibiotics for Pediatric Patients with Otitis Media and Pharyngitis.The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy · 2026Article
- Exploring Antimicrobial Stewardship Influential Interventions on Improving Antibiotic Utilization in Outpatient and Inpatient Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Educational Interventions to Reduce Prescription and Dispensing of Antibiotics in Primary Care: A Systematic Review of Economic Impact.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- All my possessions for a moment of time.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2010Article
- Patient Willingness to Have Tests to Guide Antibiotic Use for Respiratory Tract Infections: From the WWAMI Region Practice and Research Network (WPRN).Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFMArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether postdating delayed antibiotic prescriptions results in a further decrease (over usual delayed prescriptions) in antibiotic use.
designRandomized controlled trial.
settingA small rural town in Newfoundland and Labrador.
participantsA total of 149 consecutive adult primary care patients who presented with acute upper respiratory tract infections.
interventionDelayed prescriptions for patients who might require antibiotics were randomly dated either the day of the office visit (ie, the usual group) or 2 days later (ie, the postdated group).
main outcome measuresWhether or not the prescriptions were filled and the time it took for the patients to fill the prescriptions were noted by the 4 local pharmacies and relayed to the investigators.
resultsIn total, 149 delayed antibiotic prescriptions were written, 1 per patient. Of the 74 usual delayed prescriptions given out, 32 (43.2%) were filled; of the 75 postdated delayed prescriptions given out, 33 (44.0%) were filled. Sixteen patients from each group filled their delayed prescriptions earlier than the recommended 48 hours. Statistical analyses-χ² tests to compare the rates of antibiotic use between the 2 groups and t tests to compare the mean time to fill the prescription between the 2 groups-indicated that these results were not significant (P > .05).
conclusionAlthough delayed prescriptions reduce the rate of antibiotic use, postdating the delayed prescription does not seem to lead to further reduction in use.
Indexed as
Identifiers
20944049PMC2954088What 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.