ArticleItalian journal of pediatrics2015
The impact of the Italian guidelines on antibiotic prescription practices for acute otitis media in a paediatric emergency setting.
Article in Italian journal of pediatrics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antibiotic treatment to prevent pediatric acute otitis media infectious complications: A meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Clinical practice guidelines for acute otitis media in children: a systematic review and appraisal of European national guidelines.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Impact of acute otitis media clinical practice guidelines on antibiotic and analgesic prescriptions: a systematic review.Archives of disease in childhood · 2018Pooled it
- Interventions to Minimize Unnecessary Antibiotic Use for Acute Otitis Media: A Meta-Analysis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Watchful Waiting in Pediatric Acute Otitis Media: A Real Practice Approach or an Intangible Desideratum?Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Epidemiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus in children in a tertiary care pediatric hospital in Milan, Italy, 2017-2021.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2022Article
- Antibiotic prescriptions in acute otitis media and pharyngitis in Italian pediatric outpatients.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2019Observational
- Antibiotic prescription in the outpatient paediatric population attending emergency departments in Lombardy, Italy: a retrospective database review.BMJ paediatrics open · 2019Article
- Bacteriotherapy withInternational journal of general medicine · 2017Article
- Progress in pediatrics in 2015: choices in allergy, endocrinology, gastroenterology, genetics, haematology, infectious diseases, neonatology, nephrology, neurology, nutrition, oncology and pulmonology.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2016Review
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8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAcute otitis media (AOM) is one of the most common childhood infectious diseases. The recent Italian Pediatric Guidelines for the treatment of AOM constitutes a step forward in the management of children with uncomplicated AOM. The aim of this study was to evaluate antibiotic prescription patterns for AOM in a Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) after those guidelines were introduced and to assess the relationship between implementation of the "watchful waiting" strategy and the incidence of acute mastoiditis in the PED.
methodsThis retrospective study was conducted between 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2013 at the PED of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Modena (Italy). All children between 0 and 14 years who were examined because of symptoms and/or signs of AOM and acute mastoiditis were enrolled. Pearson's chi-squared test was used to evaluate if introduction of the Italian Paediatric Guidelines was associated with a reduction in the antibiotic prescription pattern in children with AOM and/or with an increase in mastoiditis frequency.
results4,573 (89.4%) patients were included in our analysis, antibiotics were prescribed to 81% cases of the children diagnosed with AOM. The frequency of antibiotic prescribing continued to be stable after the Italian guidelines were introduced (82% versus 81%). Forty children were admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of acute mastoiditis. Our study did not find any association between the number of cases of acute mastoiditis and the percentage of patients treated with antibiotics; the annual incidence of mastoiditis before and after the new guidelines were published was, in fact, stable.
conclusionsDespite the diffusion of clinical guidelines recommending a "watchful waiting" approach for children with AOM, the antibiotic prescription rate continues to be high. It appears to be more difficult to impact the percentage of cases for which antibiotics are prescribed than the type of antibiotic that is utilized. In view of these findings, a close follow-up control by the primary care paediatrician or a scheduled follow-up appointment at the PED and incisive campaigns to promote parents' awareness of proper antibiotic use appear to be warranted.
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