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Schwartz KL, Ivers N, Langford BJ, Taljaard M, Neish D, Brown KA, Leung V, Daneman N, Alloo J, Silverman M, Shing E, Grimshaw JM, Leis JA, Wu JHC, Garber G. Effect of Antibiotic-Prescribing Feedback to High-Volume Primary Care Physicians on Number of Antibiotic Prescriptions: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Intern Med 2021; 181:1165-1173. [PMID: 34228086 PMCID: PMC8261687 DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2021.2790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Antibiotic overuse contributes to adverse drug effects, increased costs, and antimicrobial resistance. OBJECTIVE To evaluate peer-comparison audit and feedback to high-prescribing primary care physicians (PCPs) and assess the effect of targeted messaging on avoiding unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions and avoiding long-duration prescribing. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this 3-arm randomized clinical trial, administrative data collected from IQVIA's Xponent database were used to recruit the highest quartile of antibiotic-prescribing PCPs (n = 3500) in Ontario, Canada. INTERVENTIONS Physicians were randomized 3:3:1 to receive a mailed letter sent in December 2018 addressing antibiotic treatment initiation (n = 1500), a letter addressing prescribing duration (n = 1500), or no letter (control; n = 500). Outliers at the 99th percentile at baseline for each arm were excluded from analysis. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was total number of antibiotic prescriptions over 12 months postintervention. Secondary outcomes were number of prolonged-duration prescriptions (>7 days) and antibiotic drug costs (in Canadian dollars). Robust Poisson regression controlling for baseline prescriptions was used for analysis. RESULTS Of the 3465 PCPs included in analysis, 2405 (69.4%) were male, and 2116 (61.1%) were 25 or more years from their medical graduation. At baseline, PCPs receiving the antibiotic initiation letter and duration letter prescribed an average of 988 and 1000 antibiotic prescriptions, respectively; at 12 months postintervention, these PCPs prescribed an average of 849 and 851 antibiotic prescriptions, respectively. For the primary outcome of total antibiotic prescriptions 12 months postintervention, there was no statistically significant difference in total antibiotic use between PCPs who received the initiation letter compared with controls (relative risk [RR], 0.96; 97.5% CI, 0.92-1.01; P = .06) and a small statistically significant difference for the duration letter compared with controls (RR, 0.95; 97.5% CI, 0.91-1.00; P = .01). For PCPs receiving the duration letter, this corresponds to an average of 42 fewer antibiotic prescriptions over 12 months. There was no statistically significant difference between the letter arms. For the initiation letter, compared with controls there was an RR of 0.98 (97.5% CI, 0.93-1.03; P = .42) and 0.97 (97.5% CI, 0.92-1.02; P = .19) for the outcomes of prolonged-duration prescriptions and antibiotic drug costs, respectively. At baseline, PCPs who received the duration letter prescribed an average of 332 prolonged-duration prescriptions with $14 470 in drug costs. There was an 8.1% relative reduction (RR, 0.92; 97.5% CI, 0.87-0.97; P < .001) in prolonged-duration prescriptions, and a 6.1% relative reduction in antibiotic drug costs (RR, 0.94; 97.5% CI, 0.89-0.99; P = .01). This corresponds to an average of 24 fewer prolonged-duration prescriptions and $771 in drug cost savings per PCP over 12 months. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this randomized clinical trial, a single mailed letter to the highest-prescribing PCPs in Ontario, Canada providing peer-comparison feedback, including messaging on limiting antibiotic-prescribing durations, led to statistically significant reductions in total and prolonged-duration antibiotic prescriptions, as well as drug costs. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03776383.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin L Schwartz
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Noah Ivers
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bradley J Langford
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre, St Catharines, Ontario, Canada
| | - Monica Taljaard
- Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Kevin A Brown
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Valerie Leung
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Michael Garron Hospital, Toronto East Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nick Daneman
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Javed Alloo
- Section on General and Family Practice, Ontario Medical Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Ontario College of Family Physicians, Toronto, Ontario
| | - Michael Silverman
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Emily Shing
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jeremy M Grimshaw
- Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jerome A Leis
- Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Gary Garber
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Schwartz KL, Langford BJ, Daneman N, Chen B, Brown KA, McIsaac W, Tu K, Candido E, Johnstone J, Leung V, Hwee J, Silverman M, Wu JHC, Garber G. Unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in a Canadian primary care setting: a descriptive analysis using routinely collected electronic medical record data. CMAJ Open 2020; 8:E360-E369. [PMID: 32381687 PMCID: PMC7207032 DOI: 10.9778/cmajo.20190175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Unnecessary antibiotic use in the community in Canada is not well defined. Our objective was to quantify unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in a Canadian primary care setting. METHODS We performed a descriptive analysis in Ontario from April 2011 to March 2016 using the Electronic Medical Records Primary Care database linked to other health administrative data sets at ICES. We determined antibiotic prescribing rates (per 100 patient-physician encounters) for 23 common conditions and estimated rates of unnecessary prescribing using predefined expected prescribing rates, both stratified by condition and patient age group. RESULTS The study included 341 physicians, 204 313 patients and 499 570 encounters. The rate of unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for included conditions was 15.4% overall and was 17.6% for those less than 2 years of age, 18.6% for those aged 2-18, 14.5% for those aged 19-64 and 13.0% for those aged 65 or more. The highest unnecessary prescribing rates were observed for acute bronchitis (52.6%), acute sinusitis (48.4%) and acute otitis media (39.3%). The common cold, acute bronchitis, acute sinusitis and miscellaneous nonbacterial infections were responsible for 80% of the unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. Of all antibiotics prescribed, 12.0% were for conditions for which they are never indicated, and 12.3% for conditions for which they are rarely indicated. In children, 25% of antibiotics were for conditions for which they are never indicated (e.g., common cold). INTERPRETATION Antibiotics were prescribed unnecessarily for 15.4% of included encounters in a Canadian primary care setting. Almost one-quarter of antibiotics were prescribed for conditions for which they are rarely or never indicated. These findings should guide safe reductions in the use of antibiotics for the common cold, bronchitis and sinusitis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin L Schwartz
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.
| | - Bradley J Langford
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Nick Daneman
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Branson Chen
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Kevin A Brown
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Warren McIsaac
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Karen Tu
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Elisa Candido
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Jennie Johnstone
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Valerie Leung
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Jeremiah Hwee
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Michael Silverman
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Julie H C Wu
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
| | - Gary Garber
- Public Health Ontario (Schwartz, Langford, Brown, Johnstone, Leung, Wu, Garber); ICES Central (Schwartz, Daneman, Chen, Brown, Candido); Unity Health Network (Langford), St. Joseph Health Centre; Sunnybrook Research Institute (Daneman); Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine (McIsaac), Sinai Health System; Departments of Family & Community Medicine (McIsaac, Tu) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (Johnstone), University of Toronto; North York General Hospital (Tu); Toronto Western Hospital Family Health Team (Tu), University Health Network; Toronto East Health Network (Leung), Michael Garron Hospital; Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Hwee), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Institute for Better Health (Hwee), Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga, Ont.; London Health Sciences Centre (Silverman), London, Ont.; Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Garber); Department of Medicine (Garber), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont
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Langford BJ, Daneman N, Leung V, Wu JHC, Brown K, Schwartz KL, Garber G. The second-hand effects of antibiotics: communicating the public health risks of drug resistance. JAC Antimicrob Resist 2019; 1:dlz059. [PMID: 34222933 DOI: 10.1093/jacamr/dlz059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a threat to modern medicine, but there are challenges in communicating its urgency and scope and potential solutions to this growing problem. It is recognized that AMR has a 'language problem' and the way in which healthcare professionals communicate about AMR may not always resonate with patients. Many patients are unaware that antibiotics can have detrimental effects to those beyond the recipient, due to transmission of drug-resistant organisms. The overestimation of benefits and underestimation of risks helps to fuel demand for antibiotic use in situations where they may be of little or no benefit. To better communicate risks, clinicians may borrow the term 'second-hand' from efforts to reduce smoking cessation. We present several examples where antibiotics themselves have second-hand effects beyond the individual recipient in hospitals, long-term care homes and the community. Incorporation of the concept of the second-hand effects of antibiotics into patient counselling, mass messaging and future research may help facilitate a more balanced discussion about the benefits and risks of antibiotic use in order to use these agents more appropriately.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - N Daneman
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,ICES, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,The Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - V Leung
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - J H C Wu
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - K Brown
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,ICES, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - K L Schwartz
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,ICES, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - G Garber
- Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Ottawa Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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