‘Doctors prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily’
Mar 23, 2008
DOCTORS are overprescribing antibiotics for common sinus infections and related conditions, researchers reported recently.
DOCTORS are overprescribing antibiotics for common sinus infections and related conditions, researchers reported recently.
Bacteria can cause rhinosinusitis — an inflammation of the sinuses — but a virus such as the common cold is often a more likely culprit so antibiotics seldom work, the researchers reported in the journal Lancet.
Yet doctors still dole out the drugs more than they should. In the US, 80% of sinus patients are prescribed an antibiotic. The proportion ranges from 72% to 92% in Europe.
“What tends to happen in practice is when patients have had symptoms for a while and go see their family doctor, the doctor assumes they have a bacterial infection and gives them antibiotics,†said James Young, a statistician, who led the study.
Moderating antibiotics, which are useless against viruses, is critical because overuse of drugs is contributing to the rapid rise of drug-resistant bacteria, Young added.
Analysis of nine previous studies did not show why doctors are overpresribing, but a false belief that antibiotics may help if symptoms are long-lasting may be influencing doctors, he added.
Instead doctors should watch and wait for longer to see if antibiotics are truly needed, because viral infections — as well as bacterial ones — can last for weeks, the researchers said.
In their analysis, the researchers looked at more than 2,500 people with sinus infection-type complaints who had been treated with an antibiotic.
“Antibiotics are not justified even if a patient reports symptoms for longer than seven to ten days,†the researchers said.
Reuters
Bacteria can cause rhinosinusitis — an inflammation of the sinuses — but a virus such as the common cold is often a more likely culprit so antibiotics seldom work, the researchers reported in the journal Lancet.
Yet doctors still dole out the drugs more than they should. In the US, 80% of sinus patients are prescribed an antibiotic. The proportion ranges from 72% to 92% in Europe.
“What tends to happen in practice is when patients have had symptoms for a while and go see their family doctor, the doctor assumes they have a bacterial infection and gives them antibiotics,†said James Young, a statistician, who led the study.
Moderating antibiotics, which are useless against viruses, is critical because overuse of drugs is contributing to the rapid rise of drug-resistant bacteria, Young added.
Analysis of nine previous studies did not show why doctors are overpresribing, but a false belief that antibiotics may help if symptoms are long-lasting may be influencing doctors, he added.
Instead doctors should watch and wait for longer to see if antibiotics are truly needed, because viral infections — as well as bacterial ones — can last for weeks, the researchers said.
In their analysis, the researchers looked at more than 2,500 people with sinus infection-type complaints who had been treated with an antibiotic.
“Antibiotics are not justified even if a patient reports symptoms for longer than seven to ten days,†the researchers said.
Reuters