Antibiotic Prescribing for Nonbacterial Acute Upper Respiratory Infections in Elderly Persons
Authors: Michael Silverman, Marcus Povitz, Jessica M. Sontrop, Salimah Z. Shariff
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2017)

Letters21 November 2017Antibiotic Prescribing for Nonbacterial Acute Upper Respiratory Infections in Elderly PersonsMichael Silverman, MD, Marcus Povitz, MDCM, MSc, Jessica M. Sontrop, PhD, and Salimah Z. Shariff, PhDMichael Silverman, MDSt. Joseph's Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada (M.S.), Marcus Povitz, MDCM, MScVictoria Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada (M.P., J.M.S., S.Z.S.), Jessica M. Sontrop, PhDVictoria Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada (M.P., J.M.S., S.Z.S.), and Salimah Z. Shariff, PhDVictoria Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada (M.P., J.M.S., S.Z.S.)Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L17-0438 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:Dr. Paul may be reassured to know that we used several strategies to ensure that our study did not include acute upper respiratory tract infections (AURIs) that were bacterial or suspected to be bacterial. First, we limited our analysis to 4 viral AURIs: acute nasopharyngitis, acute sinusitis, acute laryngitis, and acute bronchitis. We did not include those diagnosed with streptococcal pharyngitis; this condition has a specific billing code (034), which enabled us to exclude these patients. As for acute nasopharyngitis, the physician claims submission guide in our region defines the diagnostic code 460 as "acute nasopharyngitis, common cold." ...References1. Harris AM, Hicks LA, Qaseem A; High Value Care Task Force of the American College of Physicians and for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.. Appropriate antibiotic use for acute respiratory tract infection in adults: advice for high-value care from the American College of Physicians and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ann Intern Med. 2016;164:425-34. [PMID: 26785402]. doi:10.7326/M15-1840 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Steinman MA, Landefeld CS, Gonzales R. Predictors of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections in adult primary care. JAMA. 2003;289:719-25. [PMID: 12585950] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Jones BE, Sauer B, Jones MM, Campo J, Damal K, He T, et al. Variation in outpatient antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in the veteran population: a cross-sectional study. Ann Intern Med. 2015;163:73-80. [PMID: 26192562]. doi:10.7326/M14-1933 LinkGoogle Scholar4. Ebell MH, Radke T. Antibiotic use for viral acute respiratory tract infections remains common. Am J Manag Care. 2015;21:e567-75. [PMID: 26619058] MedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: St. Joseph's Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada (M.S.)Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada (M.P., J.M.S., S.Z.S.)Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M16-1131. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoAntibiotic Prescribing for Nonbacterial Acute Upper Respiratory Infections in Elderly Persons Michael Silverman , Marcus Povitz , Jessica M. Sontrop , Lihua Li , Lucie Richard , Sonny Cejic , and Salimah Z. Shariff Antibiotic Prescribing for Nonbacterial Acute Upper Respiratory Infections in Elderly Persons Mical Paul Metrics Cited byWeighing patient attributes in antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections: A discrete choice experiment on primary care physicians in Hubei Province, ChinaA robust host-response-based signature distinguishes bacterial and viral infections across diverse global populationsEfficacy and Safety of Ganduqing Granules in Treating the Common Cold: A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled TrialUse of Prophylactic Antibiotics to Prevent Urinary Tract Infection after Urodynamic Testing and Cystoscopy in Women: A Practice Pattern StudyDefining and Adopting Clinical Performance Measures in Graduate Medical EducationConsensus of the Russian Scientific Medical Society of Therapists (RSMST) Expert Council 'Improving Treatment Outcomes of Respiratory Tract Infections'Regional variability in outpatient antibiotic use in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective cross-sectional study 21 November 2017Volume 167, Issue 10Page: 758-759KeywordsAntibioticsBronchitisCommon coldDisclosureElderlyLong-term careOutpatient clinicsStreptococcal infectionsStreptococcal pharyngitisUpper respiratory tract infections ePublished: 21 November 2017 Issue Published: 21 November 2017 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2017 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...