Parent expectations for antibiotics, physician-parent communication, and satisfaction

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Healthcare
• Clinical Communication
• Antibiotic Stewardship

Background:

• Parental expectations for antibiotics are common in pediatric acute care visits.
• Physicians often perceive pressure to prescribe antibiotics, even without direct parental requests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how parents communicate antibiotic preferences to physicians.
• To assess if physicians can effectively communicate non-prescribing decisions while maintaining patient satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized pre- and post-visit surveys for parents and physicians.
• Audiotaped study encounters in two private pediatric practices.
• Included 10 physicians and 295 parents in the study.

Main Results:

• 50% of parents expected antibiotics before the visit; only 1% directly requested them.
• Physicians perceived an antibiotic expectation 34% of the time, even without direct requests.
• Parents not receiving expected antibiotics reported higher satisfaction when offered a contingency plan (76 vs. 58.9).

Conclusions:

• Offering a contingency plan can enhance satisfaction when antibiotics are not clinically indicated.
• Further research is needed on indirect parental communication of antibiotic desire and physician communication strategies to reduce overprescribing.