Most people expected to receive antibiotics for illnesses that were often caused by viruses, which don’t require them, according to survey results published Monday in the Annals of Family Medicine.
A team from Baylor College of Medicine conducted the survey from January 2020 to June 2021 at six public primary care clinics and two private emergency departments in Harris County, Texas. They wanted to better understand patient expectations on taking antibiotics for acute diarrhea, sore throat, cold/flu, sinus infections, and bronchitis symptoms.
Study participants responded to several statements for each symptom using a five-point scale. The participants were also asked if they understood the risks of taking antibiotics.Then the researchers compared the differences in patient expectations based on their sociodemographic groups and the type of healthcare system they used (public or private).
Of the 564 patients surveyed, 93% expected to receive an antibiotic for one of the five pre-defined illnesses/symptoms. Additionally, 84% thought antibiotics would improve bronchitis, 72% said the same about sinus infections, 66% for sore throat, 64% for cold/flu, and 36% for diarrhea. In all, 37% of patients lacked knowledge of antibiotic risks.
Public clinic patients were 1.8 times as likely to expect antibiotics for diarrhea, 2.2 times more likely for sore throat, and 2.5 times more likely for cold and flu symptoms.
Lack of knowledge of potential risks of antibiotic use were both linked to having higher antibiotic expectations for diarrhea, and cold and flu symptoms. Those with lower education and inadequate health literacy were linked to expecting antibiotics to treat diarrhea.
“Future stewardship interventions to reduce inappropriate patient antibiotic expectations should (1) inform patients of the symptoms/illnesses that antibiotics treat and (2) emphasize the individual harms/risks (or harms/risks to others close to an individual) of antibiotics,” the researchers wrote.
