Delayed prescriptions have been shown to lower antibiotic use for upper respiratory tract infections (which are mostly viral). This trial will test the hypothesis that if the clinician post-dates the delayed prescription by 2 days, rather than dating it on the day the patient is seen, there will be a further drop in the rate of antibiotic use.
6 family doctors and 2 nurse practitioners in a small rural town will issue delayed antibiotic prescriptions to adult patients with new acute respiratory tract infections. The delayed prescriptions will be randomly dated for either the day of the office visit, or 2 days later. The 2 local pharmacies will note whether the prescription is cashed, and when. It is hypothesised that post-dating the prescription will result in a reduced cashing rate. Each arm of the study (Usual v Post-Dated) will contain 75 subjects. This sample will have the power to detect a 25% change in prescription use.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
149
Memorial University
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Number of Participants That Filled a Prescription in 20 Days
Prescriptions
Time frame: 20 days
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