Antibiotic Prescribing

This policy brief summarises the issues for the need to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for RTIs in ambulatory (primary) care by optimizing the use of CRP-POCT and its integration into clinical practice guidelines. It integrates a summary of the current evidence from a meta-analysis of RCTs on the clinical effectiveness of CRP-POCT to reduce antibiotic prescribing for RTIs. Based on this, and both high-profile RCTs and guidelines, it considers the steps that can be taken to address the continuing issue of unnecessary antibiotic prescribing, which can be a challenge due to the following main factors:

i) data on antibiotic consumption (for RTIs) from Swiss primary care are limited

ii) documentation of the use of CRP-POCT to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for RTIs in Swiss primary care is limited

iii) guidance on the use of CRP-POCT to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for RTIs in primary care is lacking

iiii) advice for physicians on how to deal with patients’ pressure and the decision of not prescribing antibiotics is lacking

Stakeholders: 

SLHS Lead: University of Zurich, Institute of Primary Care

Author: Nahara Anani Martinez Gonzalez

Policy Brief: Download PDF

Key Messages: English, French, Italian

Summary of Stakeholder Dialogue (available in English): Download PDF