ArticleBMC family practice2019
General practitioners' accounts of negotiating antibiotic prescribing decisions with patients: a qualitative study on what influences antibiotic prescribing in low, medium and high prescribing practices.
Article in BMC family practice, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 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
48 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Factors contributing to the variation in antibiotic prescribing among primary health care physicians: a systematic review.BMC primary care · 2024Pooled it
- Physicians', pharmacists', and nurses' education of patients about antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in primary care settings: a qualitative systematic literature review.Frontiers in antibiotics · 2024Pooled it
- Dynamic procalcitonin-guided antibiotic stewardship among cancer patients in the UK.Journal of medical microbiology · 2026Article
- Understanding antimicrobial use by equine owners in Wales: Using cross-sectional survey and semi-structured interviews.Equine veterinary journal · 2026Article
- Implementing Information Resources to Support Shared Decisions in Australian Primary Care: A Qualitative Perspective of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Strategy.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The microbiome in mind: Reflections on antibiotic prescription in primary care.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2025Article
- General practitioners' perspectives on diagnosis and treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections: A qualitative study in the Northern Dutch-German cross-border region.The European journal of general practice · 2025Article
- Public knowledge and attitudes towards antibiotic use across England - pre- and post-pandemic.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Similarities in the consumption trajectory of antibacterial drugs in the outpatient care sector in Germany from 1986 to 2022: identification of shared patterns, correlation analysis of prescribed defined daily dose and assessment of underlying influences.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- A cross-sectional study examining the role of doctors' trust in patients' requests for antibiotics: a neglected perspective.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Doctors' perceptions of antimicrobial resistance in the Northern West Bank, Palestine: a qualitative study.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Article
- Barriers and facilitators for the implementation of delayed-prescription of antibiotics in family medicine: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Antibiotic Prescribing Decisions for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections Among Primary Healthcare Physicians in China: A Mixed-Methods Approach Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Antimicrobial Prescribing Patterns in GP Practices in Northern Ireland.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- General practitioners' decision making managing uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women: a qualitative study.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Why Do Physicians Prescribe Antibiotics? A Systematic Review of the Psycho-Socio-Organisational Factors Related to Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing of Antimicrobials in Europe.Infectious disease reports · 2024Review
- Point-of-care testing and antibiotics prescribing in out-of-hours general practice: a register-based study in Denmark.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Communication training for general practitioners aimed at improving antibiotic prescribing: a controlled before-after study in multicultural Dutch cities.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Primary Care Antibiotic Prescribing and Infection-Related Hospitalisation.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is high on the UK public health policy agenda, and poses challenges to patient safety and the provision of health services. Widespread prescribing of antibiotics is thought to increase AMR, and mostly takes place in primary medical care. However, prescribing rates vary substantially between general practices. The aim of this study was to understand contextual factors related to general practitioners' (GPs) antibiotic prescribing behaviour in low, high, and around the mean (medium) prescribing primary care practices.
methodsQualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 41 GPs working in North-West England. Participants were purposively sampled from practices with low, medium, and high antibiotic prescribing rates adjusted for the number and characteristics of patients registered in a practice. The interviews were analysed thematically.
resultsThis study found that optimizing antibiotic prescribing creates tensions for GPs, particularly in doctor-patient communication during a consultation. GPs balanced patient expectations and their own decision-making in their communication. When not prescribing antibiotics, GPs reported the need for supportive mechanisms, such as regular practice meetings, within the practice, and in the wider healthcare system (e.g. longer consultation times). In low prescribing practices, GPs reported that increasing dialogue with colleagues, having consistent patterns of prescribing within the practice, supportive practice policies, and enough resources such as consultation time were important supports when not prescribing antibiotics.
conclusionsInsight into GPs' negotiations with patient and public health demands, and consistent and supportive practice-level policies can help support prudent antibiotic prescribing among primary care practices.
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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.