Patient- and Family Physician-Related Predictors of Antibiotic Prescribing and Point-of-Care and Laboratory C Reactive Protein Testing before Decision Making in Rural and Urban Family Physician Practices in Latvia

Activity: Talk or presentation types › Poster presentation

Description

Antibiotics are often prescribed for children with acute diseases in primary care, although viral infections are dominant. C reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase protein that can help to differentiate viral and bacterial infections. We evaluate patient- and family physician (FP) - related predictors of antibiotic prescribing and CRP testing before antibiotic prescribing in FP groups with and without access to CRP point-of-care test (POCT).. 80 FP from from urban and rural practices in Latvia recorded data on pediatric patients (1 month up to 17 years) who were consulted with acute infections (symptoms duration < 5 days). The FP were divided into two groups of 40, one group had access to CRP POCT and control group continued standard care. . In total, 2,039 children with acute infections were enrolled in the study (n= 886 in control group; n= 1153 CRP POCT group) with the median age 6.1 years. The most common infections were upper (78.3% (n=1597)) and lower (18.8% (n=384) respiratory infections. In both groups 29.8% received antibiotic prescription. Antibiotic prescribing was significantly associated with younger age of children, middle-age of FP, a rural location of the FP practice and a larger number of registered paediatric patients. The CRP level was frequently measured in the POCT CRP group (72.4% (n=835)), compared to only 8.8% (n=78) in the control group, with an especially low level in rural practices (0,9%). 79.4% of antibiotic prescriptions were preceded by CRP testing in the CRP POCT group compared to only 12.5% in the control group. . In the absence of CRP POCT, especially in rural areas, patients undergo minimal CRP testing prior to antibiotic prescribing, consequently leading to unwarranted antibacterial treatment. Younger age of children, middle-age of FP, a rural location of the FP practice and a more registered paediatric patients are associated with antibiotic prescribing.
Period29 Mar 2023
Event titleRSU International Research Conference 2023: Knowledge for Use in Practice
Event typeConference
OrganiserRīga Stradiņš University
LocationRiga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

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