Antibiotic treatment of acute otitis media. Criteria and performance in Danish general practice.

OBJECTIVE

To assess implicit criteria (i.e. what the general practitioner (GP) considers good clinical practice) for and performance (i.e. what the GP actually does) with regard to antibiotic treatment of acute otitis media in Danish general practice.

DESIGN

a) Criteria assessed by survey among general practitioners. b) Performance assessed by prospective registration of consultations with general practitioners related to otitis media.

SETTING

General practices in three Danish counties.

SUBJECTS

a) All the GPs in the three countries (n = 790). b) 368 children with acute otitis media.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

a) Criteria for timing of treatment and first drug of choice for acute otitis media; b) prescribed antibiotics and multivariate analysis of factors predicting antibiotic prescription.

RESULTS

a) The response rate was 72%. Only 51% (95% CI 47-55) of GPs would give antibiotics to all children with acute otitis media, and 79% (95% CI 76-82) of GPs would use penicillin-V as first drug of choice. b) Seventy-four per cent (95% CI 68-81) of children with acute otitis media were given antibiotics. Factors predicting the GPs' decision to prescribe antibiotics were the general condition of the child and the factors that are normally used in diagnosing the condition.

CONCLUSION

Danish general practitioners' criteria for antibiotic treatment of acute otitis media are restrictive, with non-antibiotic treatment in cases of short duration and penicillin-V as first drug of choice. Performance suggests a less restrictive pattern.