Management of upper respiratory tract infection in Dutch general practice

A questionnaire, sent to a 10% random sample of Dutch general practitioners (n = 635) included descriptions of four cases of upper respiratory tract infections (acute tonsillitis, recurrent tonsillitis, acute otitis media and sinusitis). This was used to study the general practitioners' management of upper respiratory tract infections. A total of 376 doctors responded (59%). The majority of general practitioners would prescribe antibiotics for sinusitis (80% of respondents) but only 29% would prescribe antibiotics for acute otitis media. For acute tonsillitis and recurrent tonsillitis the proportions were 52% and 59%, respectively. The low prescription rate for acute otitis media was in accordance with national standards, such as the standard of the Netherlands college of general practitioners. A penicillin (phenoxymethylpenicillin or phenethicillin) was most likely to be selected for the two types of tonsillitis, amoxycillin for acute otitis media and doxycycline for sinusitis. Other antibiotics such as erythromycin, other tetracyclines and ampicillin, were seldom selected. Most respondents would prescribe antibiotics for seven days, but there was considerable variation. The influence of the characteristics of the general practitioners and their practices on their antibiotic prescribing was small. Only type of practice correlated with antibiotic treatment, in that general practitioners in single-handed practices would prescribe antibiotics more often than their colleagues in health centres. Among those who would prescribe symptomatic treatment nearly all would prescribe nosedrops for acute otitis media and sinusitis. Eighty five per cent of the respondents would refer the patient with recurrent tonsillitis, while 10% would refer the patient with acute otitis media. The results suggest that some aspects of the prescribing behaviour of Dutch general practitioners might be improved.