Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1999 Nov;14(11):658-62.
doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.1999.08118.x.

Public beliefs and use of antibiotics for acute respiratory illness

A A Wilson  1 , L A Crane, P H Barrett, R Gonzales
Affiliations

Public beliefs and use of antibiotics for acute respiratory illness

A A Wilson et al. J Gen Intern Med. 1999 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: To better understand public beliefs and use of antibiotics for acute respiratory illnesses.

Design: Cross-sectional telephone survey.

Participants: Three hundred eighty-six adult members (aged 18 years or older) of a group-model HMO in the Denver metropolitan area.

Measurements and main results: Two hundred seventy-three (70%) of the respondents reported that antibiotics were beneficial for bacterial respiratory illnesses, 211 (55%) reported that antibiotics were beneficial for viral respiratory illnesses, and 82 (21%) reported that antibiotics were beneficial for bacterial but not for viral illness. Multivariate regression analysis identified consulting an advice nurse (odds ratio [OR] 2.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7, 5.3), ever being told by a provider that antibiotics were not needed for a respiratory illness episode (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.2, 3.6), having a chronic medical condition (OR 2.0; 95% CI 1.0, 3.9), and believing antibiotics to be helpful for viral (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.3, 4.7) or bacterial (OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.2, 6.7) respiratory illnesses to be independently associated with antibiotic use for respiratory illnesses during the previous year. There was a trend toward lower previous antibiotic use among those believing antibiotics to be helpful for bacterial illness but not for viral illness.

Conclusions: A lack of understanding about antibiotic effectiveness exists in the community. Increased previous antibiotic use among those believing antibiotics to be effective for viral illnesses suggests that improvements are needed in communications to patients and the public about antibiotic appropriateness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • Let (us help) the consumer beware!
    Sauder R. Sauder R. J Gen Intern Med. 1999 Nov;14(11):705-6. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.1999.14002.x. J Gen Intern Med. 1999. PMID: 10571720 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

References

    1. Schappert SM. Ambulatory care visits to physician offices, hospital outpatient departments, and emergency departments: United States, 1995. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat. 1997;13(129):1–38. - PubMed
    1. Garibaldi RA. Epidemiology of community-acquired respiratory tract infections in adults. Am J Med. 1985;78(suppl 6B):32–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Billas A. Lower respiratory tract infections. Primary Care. 1990;17(4):811–24. - PubMed
    1. Macfarlane JT, Colville A, Guion A, Macfarlane RM, Rose DH. Prospective study of aetiology and outcome of adult lower respiratory-tract infections in the community. Lancet. 1993;341:511–4. - PubMed
    1. McCaig LF, Hughes JM. Trends in antimicrobial drug prescribing among office-based physicians in the United States. JAMA. 1995;273(3):214–9. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances