ArticleThe Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale2011
Evaluation of the Do Bugs Need Drugs? program in British Columbia: Can we curb antibiotic prescribing?
Article in The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessment of global antimicrobial resistance campaigns conducted to improve public awareness and antimicrobial use behaviours: a rapid systematic review.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Government policy interventions to reduce human antimicrobial use: A systematic review and evidence map.PLoS medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Educational interventions to improve prescription and dispensing of antibiotics: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2014Pooled it
- A pragmatic randomized trial of a primary care antimicrobial stewardship intervention in Ontario, Canada.BMC family practice · 2021Trial
- One size does not fit all: evaluating an intervention to reduce antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis.BMC health services research · 2013Trial
- Administrative interventions in antimicrobial stewardship: a global scoping review of all WHO regions.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- National retrospective study of regional prescriber-specific variation in community antibiotic prescribing Canada, 2019-2023.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Quality of Antibiotic Prescribing for Outpatient Cystitis in Adult Females.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2024Article
- An Evaluation of the Impact of an OPEN Stewardship Generated Feedback Intervention on Antibiotic Prescribing among Primary Care Veterinarians in Canada and Israel.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Quality of antibiotic prescribing for pediatric community-acquired Pneumonia in outpatient care.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- Exploring medical and veterinary student perceptions and communication preferences related to antimicrobial resistance in Ontario, Canada using qualitative methods.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Presenting a Comprehensive Definition of Unnecessary Healthcare Services and Their Drivers: A Systematic Review and Meta-synthesis.Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2023Review
- Appropriateness of Outpatient Antibiotic Use in Seniors across Two Canadian Provinces.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Outpatient prescribing and prophylactic antibiotic use for recurrent urinary tract infections in British Columbia, Canada.Canadian Urological Association journal = Journal de l'Association des urologues du Canada · 2021Article
- Quantifying the Gap between Expected and Actual Rates of Antibiotic Prescribing in British Columbia, Canada.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Outpatient antibiotic use in British Columbia, Canada: reviewing major trends since 2000.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2021Article
- Regional variation in the potentially inappropriate first-line use of fluoroquinolones in Canada as a key to antibiotic stewardship? A drug utilization review study.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Article
- Development and evaluation of a primary care antimicrobial stewardship program (PC-ASP) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2021Article
- Ten Years of Inaction on Antimicrobial Resistance: An Environmental Scan of Policies in Canada from 2008 to 2018.Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2020Article
- A whole-health-economy approach to antimicrobial stewardship: Analysis of current models and future direction.PLoS medicine · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAntibiotic resistance is accelerated by the overuse of antibiotics. Do Bugs Need Drugs? is an educational program adapted in British Columbia to target both the public and health care professionals, with the aim of reducing unnecessary prescribing. The current article presents a descriptive evaluation of the impact of the program over the first four years.
methodProgram implementation was measured by the amount of educational material distributed and the level of participation in educational sessions. The impact of the program was assessed by measuring changes in knowledge and prescribing habits of participating physicians, and by investigating provincial trends in antibiotic use.
resultsA total of 51,367 children, assisted-living residents and health care professionals have participated in the program since its inception in the fall of 2005. Pre- and postcourse assessments of participating physicians indicated significant improvements in clinical knowledge and appropriate antibiotic treatment of upper respiratory tract infections. Overall rates of antibiotic use in the province have stabilized since 2006. The rates of consumption of fluoroquinolones and macrolides have levelled off since 2005. Utilization rates for acute bronchitis are at the same level as when the program was first implemented, but rates for other acute upper respiratory tract infections of interest have declined.
conclusionsThe Do Bugs Need Drugs? program significantly improves physician antibiotic prescription decisions and is ecologically associated with desirable change in population antibiotic consumption patterns.
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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.