Huang N, Chou YJ, Morlock L, Lee CH; AcademyHealth. Meeting (2004 : San Diego, Calif.).
Abstr AcademyHealth Meet. 2004; 21: abstract no. 1905.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Health Policy & Management, Room 101, The Medical Building, 155 Li-Nong Street, Section 2,, Taipei, 111 Tel. 886-2-2820-1458 Fax 886.2.2826.1002
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: It may be possible to reduce antibiotic resistance if patients are taught to avoid antibiotic prescriptions for viral infections in ambulatory care settings. This study investigates whether children having physicians as parents--a group whose parents possess considerable medical knowledge and expertise--are less likely than other children to receive unnecessary antibiotics for colds, upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) and acute bronchitis. STUDY DESIGN: It was a cross-sectional study. In addition to a control group of children with non-medical personnel parents, two other groups were also selected for comparisons: These included children with pharmacist parents and children with parents who are nurses. Multivariate logistics regression was used. POPULATION STUDIED: The study analyzed 53,743 episodes of care for colds, URIs and acute bronchitis in a nationally representative sample of children of 18 years and younger, who lived in non-remote areas of Taiwan in 2000. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The study found that, after adjusting for the characteristics of the children and the treating physicians, children with a physician as a parent (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.37-0.68) were the least likely of all children to receive antibiotic prescriptions. The next least likely were children with a pharmacist as a parent (OR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.51-0.91). However, for children with a nurse parent, the probability of having antibiotics prescribed (OR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.78-1.10) was similar to that of the children in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: This finding supports our hypothesis that children whose parents possess medical expertise are less likely to receive unnecessary prescriptions and thus a better quality of care. Medical knowledge alone, however, at least to the level of nursing education in Taiwan, may not reduce the prescribing of unnecessary antibiotics. IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY, DELIVERY OR PRACTICE: Future studies may shed light on whether interventions other than parental education can be effective in reducing unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions among the pediatric population in ambulatory care.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acute Disease
- Ambulatory Care
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Bronchitis
- Child
- Common Cold
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- Health Personnel
- Humans
- Nasopharyngitis
- Nurses
- Parents
- Pharmacists
- Physicians
- Prescriptions, Drug
- Respiratory Tract Infections
- Specialties, Medical
- Taiwan
- hsrmtgs
UI: 103624939
From Meeting Abstracts