None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Antibiotics treat infections by killing bacteria. Antibiotic resistance occurs when an antibiotic has lost its ability to kill the bacteria; the bacteria has become resistant to the antibiotic and continues to multiply. One of the main reasons antibiotics lose their effectiveness is we take antibiotics when we don’t need them. Most antibiotics are prescribed for respiratory tract infections, in the community, that often get better without the need for medical intervention. There are many strategies to help doctors and patients to reduce antibiotic use in the community. One of these strategies is called ‘delayed prescribing’. Delayed prescribing, also called ‘wait-and-see prescribing’, is the process whereby a general practitioner (GP) makes available an antibiotic prescription during the consultation, but asks the patient to delay its use to see if symptoms will resolve first. This has been used in other countries very successfully but has never been trialed in Australia. The GP4DP trial wants to test if delayed prescribing can help reduce antibiotic use in community for people who present to their GP with respiratory tract infections. This trial will ask GPs not to prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily and if they do think it might be necessary, to ask the patient to wait and see if the illness will get better on its own before taking the antibiotic. Other studies have shown that most people do wait before taking the antibiotics, complications are extremely rare and the amount of people who present to the Emergency Department does not increase.
Interventions
Brief name: The GP4DP Trial
Purpose: The online intervention aims to facilitate delayed prescribing so if doctors and patients decide antibiotics are necessary, delayed prescribing is the first option and that it is carried out appropriately. Delayed prescribing, also called 'wait-and-see' prescribing, is when a General Practitioner (GP) makes an antibiotic prescription available during the consultation but asks the patient to delay its use to see if symptoms will resolve first.
Procedures: GPs
Brief name: The GP4DP Trial Purpose: The online intervention aims to facilitate delayed prescribing so if doctors and patients decide antibiotics are necessary, delayed prescribing is the first option and that it is carried out appropriately. Delayed prescribing, also called 'wait-and-see' prescribing, is when a General Practitioner (GP) makes an antibiotic prescription available during the consultation but asks the patient to delay its use to see if symptoms will resolve first. Procedures: GPs will be given access to the online intervention Materials: The intervention is an online space where GPs can access information on how to do delayed prescribing (short video), evidence of success and resources to give to the patient to take home. Resources will include an information sheet for patients to take home explaining what infection they have, how long it usually lasts, how they can manage their symptoms and what to look for if it worsens. Who provides the intervention: The intervention is online. When and how much: After recruitment, GPs will be given access to the website. It can be accessed at any time including the consultation. No face-to-face training will be provided. It is intended the website can be used on an ongoing basis, however, the duration of the intervention for this study will be 3 months during the study. The researchers will also be examining the GPs prescribing during the same three months the year before. Tailoring: The intervention is not planned to be tailored in anyway, although the participants may contact and ask the research team questions about delayed prescribing. Fidelity: The online intervention will be piloted and feedback will used for amendments before trial.
Sponsors
University of the Sunshine Coast
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
25 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
General practitioners in Australia; practising GPs
Exclusion criteria
Is not practicing as a GP currently; Has participated in a research study aimed at reducing antibiotic prescribing in the last 2 years.
Outcome results
None listed