Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT00105248

Patient Centered Communication Training to Reduce Antibiotic Use in Acute Respiratory Tract Infections

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a short training program for general practitioners in patient-centered communication to reduce antibiotic prescription for acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI).

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Respiratory Tract Infections Infections Respiratory Tract Diseases

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Basel institute for clinical epidemiology

Basel, 4031, Switzerland

About this study

Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) constitute the most frequent reason for seeking ambulatory care and for the prescription of antibiotics, despite the mostly viral origin of ARTI. Antibiotic prescriptions for ARTI increase unnecessary drug expenditures and are the main reason for increasing drug resistance of common bacteria. Evidence from intervention studies shows that merely providing physicians with guidelines and educational material for the management of acute respiratory tract infections is not enough to reduce antibiotic prescriptions for these conditions. The main reasons for antibiotic prescription in ARTI are non-medical and related to the physician patient relationship, patients' expectations and beliefs about the benefit of antibiotics. Therefore patient-centered communication could be a promising approach to reduce the rate of antibiotic prescription in ambulatory care.

Comparison: General practitioners (GPs) trained in patient-centered communication in addition to evidence-based guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of ARTI compared to GPs just introduced to evidence-based guidelines.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • 18 years or older
  • Symptoms of an acute respiratory tract infection for >1 and <28 days

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients without informed consent
  • Not fluent in German
  • Patients with a psychiatric disorder
  • Patients with a recurrent respiratory system infection with antibiotic treatment in the previous 4 weeks

Treatment and study plan

patient-centered communication training

Behavioral

Primary outcomes

  1. Up-take of antibiotic prescription confirmed by pharmacists within 2 weeks following the initial consultation

Secondary outcomes

  1. Patient satisfaction with consultation (on validated scale)

  2. patient enablement (on validated scale)

  3. days with restriction from ARTI within 14 days initial consultation

  4. side effects from medication

  5. re-consultation rates

  6. days off from work

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Other

Collaborators

  • Basel Institute of Clinical Epidemiology (BICE)
  • Novartis
  • Swiss National Science Foundation

Registry information

Official study title

Multidimensional Intervention Program to Reduce Antibiotic Prescriptions for Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in Adults: a Randomized Controlled Trial in Primary Care

Important dates

Study start
2004
Study completion
2004
First posted
Mar 11, 2005
Registry last updated
May 11, 2016

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.