Initial impact of the acute otitis externa clinical practice guideline on clinical care

Objectives. Determine the influence of the acute otitis externa clinical practice guideline on clinical care. Study Design. Cross-sectional study with historical controls. Setting. Outpatient departments in the United States. Methods. Cases of acute otitis externa occurring in 2004-2005 (before guideline publication) and 2007-2008 (after guideline publication) were extracted from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey. Prescribing rates for ototopical medications, analgesic recommendations, and oral antibiotics were determined and compared before and after guideline publication and relative to guideline recommendations. Results. An estimated 5.50 (standard error of the estimated mean, 0.38) million visits (mean age, 27.7 [1.7] years; 49.8% male) with a primary and singular coded diagnosis of acute otitis externa were studied (2.64 [0.26] million visits for 2004-2005 and 2.86 [0.28] million visits for 2007-2008). Prescribing rates for ototopical preparations were 67.2% (5.3%) and 67.6% (5.0%) before and after guideline publication, respectively (P = .955). Recommendation rates for analgesics were 14.2% (3.3%) and 20.6% (3.9%), respectively (P = .248). Prescription rates for oral antibiotics were 21.7% (4.8%) and 30.5% (3.6%), before and after, respectively (P = .166). Conclusion. Clinician behavior in the medical treatment of acute otitis externa has not significantly changed after guideline publication, despite clear, evidence-based guideline recommendations. These data have important implications for performance measures based on the guideline. Further efforts toward guideline dissemination are likely needed.