TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring general practitioners' perception of the value of natural history information and their awareness and use of guidelines' resources to support antibiotic prescribing for self-limiting infections
T2 - a qualitative study in Australian general practice
AU - Boaitey, Kwame Peprah
AU - Hoffmann, Tammy
AU - Baillie, Emma
AU - Bakhit, Mina
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd (TGL)/RACGP Foundation Research Grant – TGL2020-01. EB was employed as a research assistant under this grant. The first author (KBP) is supported with a PhD scholarship, which is funded by the Centre for Research Excellence in Minimising Antibiotic Resistance in the Community (CRE-MARC), funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant (Reference Number:1153299). TH is a chief investigator of CRE-MARC and MB is employed as a postdoctoral research fellow on this grant. Acknowledgements
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 CSIRO. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/6/1
Y1 - 2023/6/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: The newest version of the Therapeutic Guidelines' antibiotic chapter introduced patient- and clinician-facing resources to support decision-making about antibiotic use for self-limiting infections. It is unclear whether general practitioners (GPs) are aware of and use these resources, including the natural history information they contain. We explored GPs' perceptions of the value and their use of natural history information, and their use of the Therapeutic Guidelines' resources (summary table, discussion boxes, decision aids) to support antibiotic decision-making.METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with 21 Australian GPs were conducted. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed by two independent researchers.RESULTS: Four themes emerged: (1) GPs perceive natural history information as valuable in consultations for self-limiting conditions and use it for a range of purposes, but desire specific information for infectious and non-infectious conditions; (2) GPs' reasons for using patient-facing resources were manifold, including managing patients' expectations for antibiotics, legitimising the decision not to provide antibiotics and as a prescription substitute; (3) the guidelines are a useful and important educational resource, but typically not consulted at the time of deciding whether to prescribe antibiotics; and (4) experience and attitude towards shared decision-making and looking up information during consultations influenced whether GPs involved patients in decision-making and used a decision aid.CONCLUSIONS: GPs perceived natural history information to be valuable in discussions about antibiotic use for self-limiting conditions. Patient and clinician resources were generally perceived as useful, although reasons for use varied, and a few barriers to use were reported.
AB - BACKGROUND: The newest version of the Therapeutic Guidelines' antibiotic chapter introduced patient- and clinician-facing resources to support decision-making about antibiotic use for self-limiting infections. It is unclear whether general practitioners (GPs) are aware of and use these resources, including the natural history information they contain. We explored GPs' perceptions of the value and their use of natural history information, and their use of the Therapeutic Guidelines' resources (summary table, discussion boxes, decision aids) to support antibiotic decision-making.METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with 21 Australian GPs were conducted. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed by two independent researchers.RESULTS: Four themes emerged: (1) GPs perceive natural history information as valuable in consultations for self-limiting conditions and use it for a range of purposes, but desire specific information for infectious and non-infectious conditions; (2) GPs' reasons for using patient-facing resources were manifold, including managing patients' expectations for antibiotics, legitimising the decision not to provide antibiotics and as a prescription substitute; (3) the guidelines are a useful and important educational resource, but typically not consulted at the time of deciding whether to prescribe antibiotics; and (4) experience and attitude towards shared decision-making and looking up information during consultations influenced whether GPs involved patients in decision-making and used a decision aid.CONCLUSIONS: GPs perceived natural history information to be valuable in discussions about antibiotic use for self-limiting conditions. Patient and clinician resources were generally perceived as useful, although reasons for use varied, and a few barriers to use were reported.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85164484139&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/PY22258
DO - 10.1071/PY22258
M3 - Article
C2 - 37258410
SN - 1324-2296
VL - 29
SP - 558
EP - 565
JO - Australian Journal of Primary Health
JF - Australian Journal of Primary Health
IS - 6
ER -