ArticleBMJ open2015
Adherence to guidelines on antibiotic treatment for respiratory tract infections in various categories of physicians: a retrospective cross-sectional study of data from electronic patient records.
Article in BMJ open, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early-career general practitioners' antibiotic prescribing for acute infections: a systematic review.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2024Pooled it
- Motivations and challenges experienced among locums working in Norwegian rural general practice: a reflexive thematic analysis.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Understaffing and overprescribing: a register study on the role of locum physicians in antibiotic prescribing patterns in primary care in Northern Sweden.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Diagnostic accuracy and management of suspected acute otitis media: A multi-continental survey of primary care physicians using tympanic membrane images in clinical cases.The European journal of general practice · 2026Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Antimicrobial Resistance and Associated Factors Among Healthcare Workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2025Article
- Stewards for future: Piloting a medical undergraduate elective on antimicrobial stewardship.GMS journal for medical education · 2025Article
- Factors influencing antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections in primary care - a comparison of physicians with different antibiotic prescribing rates.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2024Article
- Do family medicine residents optimally prescribe antibiotics for common infectious conditions seen in a primary care setting?Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2023Article
- Determinants of the Empiric Use of Antibiotics by General Practitioners in South Africa: Observational, Analytic, Cross-Sectional Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- Antibiotic Prescription Rates After eVisits Versus Office Visits in Primary Care: Observational Study.JMIR medical informatics · 2021Article
- Antimicrobial de-escalation in patients with high-risk febrile neutropenia: Attitudes and practices of adult hospital care providers.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2021Article
- Prescriptions of antibiotics in out-of-hours primary care setting in Reykjavik capital area.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2020Article
- Systematic Review on the Impact of Guidelines Adherence on Antibiotic Prescription in Respiratory Infections.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Review
- Physicians' views on the usefulness of practical tools for assessing the driving ability of older drivers: a cross-sectional study.Family medicine and community health · 2020Article
- Requests for new oral antibiotic prescriptions in children within 2 days: a Norwegian population-based study.Family practice · 2018Article
- General Practitioners' Views on the Acceptability and Applicability of Using Quality Indicators as an Intervention to Reduce Unnecessary Prescription of Antibiotics in Four South American Countries.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Article
- The dilemma of repeat weak opioid prescriptions - experiences from swedish GPs.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2018Article
- Reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in upper respiratory tract infection in a primary care setting in Kolkata, India.BMJ open quality · 2018Article
- Social and professional influences on antimicrobial prescribing for doctors-in-training: a realist review.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo study how prescription patterns concerning respiratory tract infections differ between interns, residents, younger general practitioners (GPs), older GPs and locums.
designRetrospective study of structured data from electronic patient records.
settingData were obtained from 53 health centres and 3 out-of-hours units in Jönköping County, Sweden, through their common electronic medical record database.
participantsAll physicians working in primary care during the 2-year study period (1 November 2010 to 31 October 2012). OUTCOME MEASURES: Physicians' adherence to current guidelines for respiratory tract infections regarding the use of antibiotics.
resultsWe found considerable differences in prescribing patterns between physician categories. The recommended antibiotic, phenoxymethylpenicillin, was more often prescribed by interns, residents and younger GPs, while older GPs and locums to a higher degree prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics. The greatest differences were seen when the recommendation in guidelines was to refrain from antibiotics, as for acute bronchitis. Interns and residents most often followed guidelines, while compliance in descending order was: young GPs, older GPs and locums. We also noticed that male doctors were somewhat overall more restrictive with antibiotics than female doctors.
conclusionsIn general, primary care doctors followed national guidelines on choice of antibiotics when treating respiratory tract infections in children but to a lesser degree when treating adults. Refraining from antibiotics seems harder. Adherence to national guidelines could be improved, especially for acute bronchitis and pneumonia. This was especially true for older GPs and locums whose prescription patterns were distant from the prevailing guidelines.
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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.