Clinician knowledge and beliefs after statewide program to promote appropriate antimicrobial drug use

In 1999, Wisconsin initiated an educational campaign for primary care clinicians and the public to promote judicious antimicrobial drug use. We evaluated its impact on clinician knowledge and beliefs; Minnesota served as a control state. Results of pre- (1999) and post- (2002) campaign questionnaires indicated that Wisconsin clinicians perceived a significant decline in the proportion of patients requesting antimicrobial drugs (50% in 1999 to 30% in 2002; p<0.001) and in antimicrobial drug requests from parents for children (25% in 1999 to 20% in 2002; p = 0.004). Wisconsin clinicians were less influenced by nonpredictive clinical findings (purulent nasal discharge [p = 0.044], productive cough [p = 0.010]) in terms of antimicrobial drug prescribing. In 2002, clinicians from both states were less likely to recommend antimicrobial agent treatment for the adult case scenarios of viral respiratory illness. For the comparable pediatric case scenarios, only Wisconsin clinicians improved significantly from 1999 to 2002. Although clinicians in both states improved on several survey responses, greater overall improvement occurred in Wisconsin.