Editorial
How effective is a brief educational intervention on prescribing first-line antibiotics in acute cystitis? A quasiexperimental study among general practitioners in Croatia
Željko Vojvodić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5215-1255
; Department of Family Medicine, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek Faculty of Medicine, Osijek, Croatia
Suzana Mimica
; Department of Internal Medicine, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek Faculty of Medicine, Osijek, Croatia
Abstract
Aim To assess the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention on prescribing first-line antibiotics in acute cystitis.
Methods This quasi-experimental before-after study was
conducted over a period of eight months. We collected prescribing data related to urinary tract infections four months
before the educational intervention and four months after
it. Aggregate data on office visits, diagnoses, and issued
prescriptions were collected from each practice’s electronic
medical records based on monthly reports.
Results Overall, 3581 prescriptions were issued: 1717 before and 1864 after the intervention. The total number of
prescriptions increased by 8.5%. The use of first-line antibiotics increased by 21.2%, the use of fluoroquinolones decreased by 6.6%, while the use of beta-lactams remained
unchanged. After the intervention, nitrofurantoin was
the most prescribed first-line antibiotic. The proportion of
women who were prescribed first-line antibiotic did not
reach the acceptable range (80%-100%) according to the
European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption quality indicators. The proportion of fluoroquinolones (17.9%)
use was well above the acceptable range (0%-5%).
Conclusion A brief educational intervention proved to be
a useful method in adopting better prescribing habits. Of
particular importance is the considerable increase in the
use of nitrofurantoin due to its reliable efficacy against
multidrug-resistant urinary pathogens.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
306682
URI
Publication date:
25.8.2022.
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