Prescriber-Dependent Antibiotic Treatment Course: Best for the Patient?

A population-based survey of long-term care facilities indicates that antibiotic duration is based on physician preference rather than patient treatment needs.

Antibiotics are widely prescribed in long-term care facilities (LTCFs), often in courses exceeding 7 days. Shortening treatment duration might be an appropriate means of reducing antibiotic overuse in such facilities — and the consequences of this excess. In a recent study, researchers used linked population-based databases at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences to analyze the prescribing habits of physicians who care for residents of LTCFs in Ontario, Canada.

Among 66,901 adults aged ≥66 who resided in an Ontario LTCF in 2010, 50,061 (75%) received an incident treatment course of systemic antibiotics and were included in the cohort. Their median age was 86 years; 72% were female, and 57% had dementia. Of the 699 prescribers who w…

Reviewing Author

Larry M. Baddour, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesUpToDate, Inc. (Authorship duties)

Larry M. Baddour, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesUpToDate, Inc. (Authorship duties)