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Why do general practitioners prescribe antibiotics for sore throat? Grounded theory interview study

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posted on 2023-06-07, 14:53 authored by Satinder Kumar, Paul Little, Nicky Britten
Objectives: To understand why general practitioners prescribe antibiotics for some cases of sore throat and to explore the factors that influence their prescribing. Design: Grounded theory interview study. Setting: General practice. Participants: 40 general practitioners: 25 in the maximum variety sample and 15 in the theoretical sample. Results: General practitioners are uncertain which patients will benefit from antibiotics but prescribe for sicker patients and for patients from socioeconomically deprived backgrounds because of concerns about complications. They are also more likely to prescribe in pressured clinical contexts. Doctors are mostly comfortable with their prescribing decisions and are not prescribing to maintain the doctor-patient relationship. Conclusions: General practitioners have reduced prescribing for sore throat in response to research and policy initiatives. Further interventions to reduce prescribing would need to improve identification of patients at risk of complications and be workable in busy clinical situations.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

BMJ

ISSN

1759-2151

Publisher

BMJ Publishing Group

Issue

7381

Volume

326

Page range

138

Department affiliated with

  • Primary Care and Public Health Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2008-10-28

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2018-04-11

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-07-02

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