ArticleBJGP open2021
Antibiotic prescribing for acute infections in synchronous telehealth consultations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in BJGP open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 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.
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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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Telemedicine interventions for improving antibiotic stewardship and prescribing: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of virtual care on drug prescribing practices: A scoping review.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Remote versus in-person consultations for acute cystitis: antibiotic treatment and clinical outcomes, a retrospective cohort study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Challenging assumptions: a tripartite assessment of medical quality, resource utilization, and equity concerns in pediatric telemedicine.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2025Article
- Prevalence of Antibiotic Prescribing for Acute Respiratory Tract Infection in Telehealth Versus Face-to-Face Consultations: Cross-Sectional Analysis of General Practice Registrars' Clinical Practice.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Uses of Virtual Care in Primary Care: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Quality of the digital gp visits and characteristics of the users: retrospective observational study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2024Observational
- Paediatric antibiotic prescribing in a nationwide direct-to-consumer telemedicine platform in France, 2018-2021.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2024Article
- Diagnosis and management of acute infections during telehealth consultations in Australian general practice: a qualitative study.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Antibiotic prescribing in remote versus face-to-face consultations for acute respiratory infections in primary care in England: an observational study using target maximum likelihood estimation.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for common infections in primary care in England: a time-series analyses using OpenSAFELY and effects of predictors including deprivation.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntibiotic overprescribing is a major concern that contributes to the problem of antibiotic resistance.
aimTo assess the effect on antibiotic prescribing in primary care of telehealth (TH) consultations compared with face-to-face (F2F). DESIGN &
settingSystematic review and meta-analysis of adult or paediatric patients with a history of a community-acquired acute infection (respiratory, urinary, or skin and soft tissue). Studies were included that compared synchronous TH consultations (phone or video-based) to F2F consultations in primary care.
methodPubMed, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL (inception-2021), clinical trial registries and citing-cited references of included studies were searched. Two review authors independently screened the studies and extracted the data.
resultsThirteen studies were identified. The one small randomised controlled trial (RCT) found a non-significant 25% relative increase in antibiotic prescribing in the TH group. The remaining 10 were observational studies but did not control well for confounding and, therefore, were at high risk of bias. When pooled by specific infections, there was no consistent pattern. The six studies of sinusitis - including one before-after study - showed significantly less prescribing for acute rhinosinusitis in TH consultations, whereas the two studies of acute otitis media showed a significant increase. Pharyngitis, conjunctivitis, and urinary tract infections showed non-significant higher prescribing in the TH group. Bronchitis showed no change in prescribing.
conclusionThe impact of TH on prescribing appears to vary between conditions, with more increases than reductions. There is insufficient evidence to draw strong conclusions, however, and higher quality research is urgently needed.
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