Patient Centered Communication Training to Reduce Antibiotic Use in Acute Respiratory Tract Infections

Respiratory Tract Infections Clinical Trial

Official title:

Multidimensional Intervention Program to Reduce Antibiotic Prescriptions for Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in Adults: a Randomized Controlled Trial in Primary Care

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00105248
• Other study ID #: 3200B0-102137
• Secondary ID: 04B292003/051242
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: March 10, 2005
• Last updated: May 10, 2016
• Start date: January 2004
• Est. completion date: June 2004

Study information

• Verified date: May 2016
• Source: University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Switzerland: Swissmedic
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a short training program for general practitioners in patient-centered communication to reduce antibiotic prescription for acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI).

Description:

Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) constitute the most frequent reason for seeking ambulatory care and for the prescription of antibiotics, despite the mostly viral origin of ARTI. Antibiotic prescriptions for ARTI increase unnecessary drug expenditures and are the main reason for increasing drug resistance of common bacteria. Evidence from intervention studies shows that merely providing physicians with guidelines and educational material for the management of acute respiratory tract infections is not enough to reduce antibiotic prescriptions for these conditions. The main reasons for antibiotic prescription in ARTI are non-medical and related to the physician patient relationship, patients' expectations and beliefs about the benefit of antibiotics. Therefore patient-centered communication could be a promising approach to reduce the rate of antibiotic prescription in ambulatory care.

Comparison: General practitioners (GPs) trained in patient-centered communication in addition to evidence-based guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of ARTI compared to GPs just introduced to evidence-based guidelines.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 900
• Est. completion date: June 2004
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 years or older

• Symptoms of an acute respiratory tract infection for >1 and <28 days

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients without informed consent

• Not fluent in German

• Patients with a psychiatric disorder

• Patients with a recurrent respiratory system infection with antibiotic treatment in the previous 4 weeks

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Communicable Diseases
• Infection
• Respiratory Tract Infections

Intervention

Behavioral:
• patient-centered communication training

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Switzerland	Basel institute for clinical epidemiology	Basel

Sponsors (4)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland	Basel Institute of Clinical Epidemiology (BICE), Novartis, Swiss National Science Foundation

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Switzerland, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Up-take of antibiotic prescription confirmed by pharmacists within 2 weeks following the initial consultation
Secondary	Patient satisfaction with consultation (on validated scale)
Secondary	patient enablement (on validated scale)
Secondary	days with restriction from ARTI within 14 days initial consultation
Secondary	side effects from medication
Secondary	re-consultation rates
Secondary	days off from work