ArticleJMIR medical informatics2021
Antibiotic Prescription Rates After eVisits Versus Office Visits in Primary Care: Observational Study.
Article in JMIR medical informatics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to trial NCT03474887 (Digital Online Consultations - Effects on Antibiotic Prescribing and Health Care Utilization in Primary Care), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Digital Online Consultations - Effects on Antibiotic Prescribing and Health Care Utilization in Primary Care
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- A theory-based analysis of the implementation of online asynchronous telemedicine platforms into primary care practices using Normalisation Process Theory.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of virtual care on drug prescribing practices: A scoping review.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- The comparative effectiveness of telehealth versus primary care and collection of urine cultures on outcome in urinary tract infection.Medicine · 2025Observational
- Antibiotic Prescribing by Digital Health Care Providers as Compared to Traditional Primary Health Care Providers: Cohort Study Using Register Data.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Effectiveness and safety of asynchronous telemedicine consultations in general practice: a systematic review.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Management of Acute Cystitis in the Era of COVID-19.Current bladder dysfunction reports · 2023Review
- Look-Back and Look-Forward Durations and the Apparent Appropriateness of Ambulatory Antibiotic Prescribing.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Trends in Remote Health Care Consumption in Sweden: Comparison Before and During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.JMIR human factors · 2022Article
- Health care utilization following "digi-physical" assessment compared to physical assessment for infectious symptoms in primary care.BMC primary care · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDirect-to-consumer telemedicine is an increasingly used modality to access primary care. Previous research on assessment using synchronous virtual visits showed mixed results regarding antibiotic prescription rates, and research on assessment using asynchronous chat-based eVisits is lacking.
objectiveThe goal of the research was to investigate if eVisit management of sore throat, other respiratory symptoms, or dysuria leads to higher rates of antibiotic prescription compared with usual management using physical office visits.
methodsData from 3847 eVisits and 759 office visits for sore throat, dysuria, or respiratory symptoms were acquired from a large private health care provider in Sweden. Data were analyzed to compare antibiotic prescription rates within 3 days, antibiotic type, and diagnoses made. For a subset of sore throat visits (n=160 eVisits, n=125 office visits), Centor criteria data were manually extracted and validated.
resultsAntibiotic prescription rates were lower following eVisits compared with office visits for sore throat (169/798, 21.2%, vs 124/312, 39.7%; P<.001) and respiratory symptoms (27/1724, 1.6%, vs 50/251, 19.9%; P<.001), while no significant differences were noted comparing eVisits to office visits for dysuria (1016/1325, 76.7%, vs 143/196, 73.0%; P=.25). Guideline-recommended antibiotics were prescribed similarly following sore throat eVisits and office visits (163/169, 96.4%, vs 117/124, 94.4%; P=.39). eVisits for respiratory symptoms and dysuria were more often prescribed guideline-recommended antibiotics (26/27, 96.3%, vs 37/50, 74.0%; P=.02 and 1009/1016, 99.3%, vs 135/143, 94.4%; P<.001, respectively). Odds ratios of antibiotic prescription following office visits compared with eVisits after adjusting for age and differences in set diagnoses were 2.94 (95% CI 1.99-4.33), 11.57 (95% CI 5.50-24.32), 1.01 (95% CI 0.66-1.53), for sore throat, respiratory symptoms, and dysuria, respectively.
conclusionsThe use of asynchronous eVisits for the management of sore throat, dysuria, and respiratory symptoms is not associated with an inherent overprescription of antibiotics compared with office visits.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03474887; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03474887.
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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.