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Effect of point of care testing for C reactive protein and training in communication skills on antibiotic use in lower respiratory tract infections: cluster randomised trial

Cals, Jochen W. L., Butler, Christopher Collett ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0102-3453, Hopstaken, Rogier M., Hood, Kerenza ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5268-8631 and Dinant, Geert-Jan 2009. Effect of point of care testing for C reactive protein and training in communication skills on antibiotic use in lower respiratory tract infections: cluster randomised trial. BMJ 338 , b1374. 10.1136/bmj.b1374

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Abstract

Objective To assess the effect of general practitioner testing for C reactive protein (disease approach) and receiving training in enhanced communication skills (illness approach) on antibiotic prescribing for lower respiratory tract infection. Design Pragmatic, 2×2 factorial, cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting 20 general practices in the Netherlands. Participants 40 general practitioners from 20 practices recruited 431 patients with lower respiratory tract infection. Main outcome measures The primary outcome was antibiotic prescribing at the index consultation. Secondary outcomes were antibiotic prescribing during 28 days’ follow-up, reconsultation, clinical recovery, and patients’ satisfaction and enablement. Interventions General practitioners’ use of C reactive protein point of care testing and training in enhanced communication skills separately and combined, and usual care. Results General practitioners in the C reactive protein test group prescribed antibiotics to 31% of patients compared with 53% in the no test group (P=0.02). General practitioners trained in enhanced communication skills prescribed antibiotics to 27% of patients compared with 54% in the no training group (P<0.01). Both interventions showed a statistically significant effect on antibiotic prescribing at any point during the 28 days’ follow-up. Clinicians in the combined intervention group prescribed antibiotics to 23% of patients (interaction term was non-significant). Patients’ recovery and satisfaction were similar in all study groups. Conclusion Both general practitioners’ use of point of care testing for C reactive protein and training in enhanced communication skills significantly reduced antibiotic prescribing for lower respiratory tract infection without compromising patients’ recovery and satisfaction with care. A combination of the illness and disease focused approaches may be necessary to achieve the greatest reduction in antibiotic prescribing for this common condition in primary care.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Medicine
Systems Immunity Research Institute (SIURI)
Subjects: R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
R Medicine > RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology
Additional Information: Pdf uploaded in accordance with publisher's policy at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/0959-8138/ (accessed 26/02/2014)
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
ISSN: 0959-8138
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Last Modified: 08 Nov 2023 20:42
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/37485

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