Antibiotic recommendations of office-based physicians, 2007-2011

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global concern.
• Understanding prescribing patterns is crucial for antimicrobial stewardship.
• Office-based physicians play a key role in primary care antibiotic use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze trends in antibiotic recommendations by Canadian office-based physicians.
• To identify variations in prescribing patterns across Canadian regions.
• To assess changes in antibiotic use between 2007 and 2011.

Main Methods:

• Utilized quarterly data from approximately 652 physicians across five Canadian regions.
• Physicians maintained practice diaries for randomly selected 48-hour periods.
• Data were extrapolated to estimate national antimicrobial recommendations.

Main Results:

• Over 120 million antimicrobial recommendations were made between 2007-2011.
• Respiratory infections accounted for the majority of antibiotic prescriptions (51%).
• Antibiotic recommendation rates generally decreased, except for genitourinary and ear infections.

Conclusions:

• Canadian office-based physician antibiotic recommendations remained stable or decreased, excluding third-generation cephalosporins.
• Higher rates of antimicrobial recommendations were observed in the Atlantic region and Québec.
• Continued surveillance is necessary to monitor prescribing trends and inform stewardship efforts.