Using a Delayed Antibiotic-Prescribing Education Intervention to Prevent Antibiotic Overuse in the Treatment of Respiratory Tract Infections

Background: Antibiotics have been overprescribed to patients with respiratory infection in outpatient clinics in the United States. Antibiotic overuse has led to increased risk for antibiotic resistance and complications related to side effects. A review of the literature suggests that delayed antibiotic prescribing is an effective intervention that can be used to prevent antibiotic overuse. Delayed antibiotic prescribing is an evidence-based strategy where a patient is either issued with an antibiotic prescription and advised to delay filling it or to pick it up at an agreed location only if symptoms persist beyond the expected natural history of illness or deteriorate. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to improve primary care providers’ knowledge about delayed antibiotic prescribing strategy and decrease inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics in the treatment of respiratory tract infections. The study used a one-group pre- and posttest design to measure providers’ knowledge of delayed antibiotic-prescribing strategy. Results: A convenience sample of 30 providers participated in the project. After the education intervention, there was a significant improvement in knowledge test questionnaire scores: Paired t (30) = 13.24, p \u3c .001. 77% (n=23) of the prescribers expressed their likelihood to adopt delayed prescribing in their practice. Discussion: The findings indicate that the delayed antibiotics educational intervention can improve providers’ knowledge, increase their likelihood to adopt intervention in practice, which may prevent complications related to antibiotic overuse. This project had limitations related to implementation and evaluation time constraints, small sample size, and lack of a control group. Ongoing education of providers and patients is an essential intervention for preventing inappropriate antibiotic use in the treatment of respiratory tract infections