Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37696521›Full record

ArticleJournal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society2023

Reducing Ophthalmic Antibiotic Use for Non-severe Conjunctivitis in Children.

Thresia Sebastian, Josh Durfee, Nancy Wittmer, Jessica Jack, Amy Keith, Timothy C Jenkins, Holly M Frost

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Thresia SebastianDepartment of Pediatrics, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Josh DurfeeCenter for Health Systems Research, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Nancy WittmerCenter for Health Systems Research, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, Colorado, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6116-9016
Jessica JackDepartment of Pediatrics, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Amy KeithCenter for Health Systems Research, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Timothy C JenkinsDivision of Infectious Diseases and Department of Medicine, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Holly M FrostDepartment of Pediatrics, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, Colorado, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3016-3287
Denver Health Medical Center · USAlameda Health System · US

Funding

Rapid diagnostic tests for adenovirus conjunctivitis in children: An epidemiologic, clinical, and cost-effectiveness evaluationK23HD099925 · NICHD · DENVER HEALTH AND HOSPITAL AUTHORITY · PI FROST, HOLLY · 2019 to 2023
$762k
NICHD NIH HHS K23 HD099925NIH HHS
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAntibiotics are often overprescribed for pediatric conjunctivitis. We implemented a system-level quality improvement (QI) intervention to reduce unnecessary ophthalmic antibiotic use.

methodsThe multi-faceted intervention in Denver, CO comprised a clinical care pathway, nurse protocol modifications, electronic health record (EHR) changes, parent education materials, and clinician education. We evaluated children aged 6 months-17 years with conjunctivitis seen between November 2018 and December 2022. A multi-interrupted time series model evaluated the effectiveness of the intervention over three time periods: Pre-COVID, Pre-Intervention (November 2018-February 2020), COVID, Pre-Intervention (March 2020-March 2021), and Post-Intervention (April 2021-December 2022). Fisher's exact tests compared treatment failure and healthcare utilization rates between time periods and among children receiving or not receiving ophthalmic antibiotics.

resultsAmong 6960 eligible encounters, ophthalmic antibiotic use was reduced by 18.8% (95% CI: 16.3, 21.3) from Pre-COVID, Pre-Intervention to Post-Intervention. During the Pre-Intervention period following the onset of COVID, a reduction of 16.1% (95% CI: 12.9, 19.3) was observed. Implementation of the intervention resulted in an additional 2.7% (95% CI: -0.4, 5.7) reduction in antibiotic prescribing, primarily in younger children (ages 6 months-5 years). The greatest reduction in prescribing occurred for nurse triage encounters with an 82.1% (95% CI: 76.8, 87.5) reduction in prescribing rates (92.6%-10.5%). Treatment failure occurred in 1301 (18.7%) children and was more common among children that received an ophthalmic antibiotic than those that did not (20.0 vs 17.9%; P = .03).

conclusionThe QI intervention significantly reduced ophthalmic antibiotic prescribing for pediatric conjunctivitis without increasing treatment failure rates or health care utilization.

Indexed as

ConjunctivitisCOVID-19Anti-Bacterial AgentsChildHumansInterrupted Time Series AnalysisPractice Patterns, Physicians'Anti-Bacterial Agentsantibiotic stewardshipconjunctivitispediatricsquality improvement

Identifiers

PMID37696521
PMCPMC10533209
OpenAlexW4386594579

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.