ArticlePloS one2019
To prescribe or not to prescribe? A factorial survey to explore veterinarians' decision making when prescribing antimicrobials to sheep and beef farmers in the UK.
Article in PloS one, 2019. 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 20 papers, 2 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding how veterinarians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices influence antibiotic prescription: a systematic review of survey studies.BMC veterinary research · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Changing the frame: the impact of welfare narrative presentation on citizen choices about cow-calf separation.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Prescribing antibiotics prudently-A survey of policy implementation drivers among physicians and veterinarians.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Article
- Article
- Staphylococcal skin infection isolates from dogs without recent antibiotic exposure are 100% susceptible to clindamycin.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- Consumer Preferences and Attitudes towards Antibiotic Use in Food Animals.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A review of the predictors of antimicrobial use and resistance in European food animal production.Frontiers in antibiotics · 2023Review
- Barriers and facilitators to implementing a new regulation restricting antimicrobial use in dairy production in Québec, Canada: A qualitative study.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
- Article
- Attitudes towards Use of High-Importance Antimicrobials-A Cross-Sectional Study of Australian Veterinarians.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Assessing Knowledge, Beliefs, and Behaviors around Antibiotic Usage and Antibiotic Resistance among UK Veterinary Students: A Multi-Site, Cross-Sectional Survey.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial use in agriculture: critical review of the factors influencing behaviour.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2021Review
- Examining the Effect of Context, Beliefs, and Values on UK Farm Veterinarians' Antimicrobial Prescribing: A Randomized Experimental Vignette and Cross-Sectional Survey.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Veterinary Treatment Approach and Antibiotic Usage for Clinical Mastitis in Danish Dairy Herds.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Non-Clinical Factors Determining the Prescription of Antibiotics by Veterinarians: A Systematic Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Veterinary Interventions to Improve Neonatal Survival on British Beef and Sheep Farms: A Qualitative Study.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2021Article
- Article
- Animal Production With Restrictive Use of Antibiotics to Contain Antimicrobial Resistance in Sweden-A Qualitative Study.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Resistance to antimicrobials is one of the biggest challenges worldwide for public health. A key strategy for tackling this is ensuring judicious use of antimicrobials in human and veterinary medicine. Whilst there are many studies in human medicine investigating prescribing behaviour of doctors, there is limited work to understand what factors influence veterinarian prescribing behaviour. Veterinarians often prescribe antimicrobials to sheep and beef farmers in contexts other than at a clinical consultation, and decision-making behind this has not been explored. The aim of this study was to measure, for the first time, the influence of factors from social theories on veterinarians' decision to prescribe antimicrobials to sheep and beef farmers without a clinical consultation, using a factorial survey approach. Respondents were presented with eight vignette scenarios, where a farmer asks for antimicrobials at the veterinary practice. Seven factors, identified from constructs of social theories, were included in the vignettes. Random intercept and random slope models were built to estimate the effects of the vignette factors and vet characteristics on the respondents' willingness to prescribe ratings. A total of 306 surveys were completed. The vignette factors: case type, farmer relationship, other veterinarians in practice, time pressure, habit, willingness to pay, and confidence in the farmer, were significant in the decision to prescribe. Confidence in the farmer was the most influential vignette variable, and was included as a random slope effect. Respondent variables with significant influence on the decision to prescribe were agreeableness personality score, region of veterinary practice, and presence of a small animal department. These influential factors could be considered to target interventions in beef and sheep farm animal veterinary practice for improved antimicrobial stewardship.
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What 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.