Version 1
: Received: 22 April 2024 / Approved: 23 April 2024 / Online: 23 April 2024 (18:05:23 CEST)
How to cite:
Daniels, R.; Miles, E.; Button, K. Does Point of Care Testing Reduce Antibiotic Prescribing in Patients Presenting with Acute Sore Throat to Primary Care? A Prospective Test of Change. Preprints2024, 2024041547. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1547.v1
Daniels, R.; Miles, E.; Button, K. Does Point of Care Testing Reduce Antibiotic Prescribing in Patients Presenting with Acute Sore Throat to Primary Care? A Prospective Test of Change. Preprints 2024, 2024041547. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1547.v1
Daniels, R.; Miles, E.; Button, K. Does Point of Care Testing Reduce Antibiotic Prescribing in Patients Presenting with Acute Sore Throat to Primary Care? A Prospective Test of Change. Preprints2024, 2024041547. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1547.v1
APA Style
Daniels, R., Miles, E., & Button, K. (2024). Does Point of Care Testing Reduce Antibiotic Prescribing in Patients Presenting with Acute Sore Throat to Primary Care? A Prospective Test of Change. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1547.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Daniels, R., Esther Miles and Karen Button. 2024 "Does Point of Care Testing Reduce Antibiotic Prescribing in Patients Presenting with Acute Sore Throat to Primary Care? A Prospective Test of Change" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.1547.v1
Abstract
Accurate clinical diagnosis of patients presenting to primary care settings with acute sore throat remains challenging, often resulting in the over-prescribing of antibiotics. Using point-of-care tests (POCTs) to differentiate between respiratory infections is well-accepted, yet evidence on the application within primary care is sparse. We assessed the application of testing patients (n=160) from three family practices with suspected Streptococcal infections using rapid molecular tests (ID NOW Strep A2, Abbott). In addition to comparing clinical evaluation and prescription rates with either usual care or with testing, patients and staff completed a questionnaire about their experience of molecular POCT in primary care. The immediate availability of the result was important to patients (100%) and staff (≈90%) stated that molecular testing improved quality of care. Interestingly, only 22.73% of patients with a Centor score >2 tested positive for Strep A and overall, less than 50% of Centor scores 3 and 4 tested positive for Strep A with the ID NOW testing platform. The addition of rapid molecular POCTs to clinical assessment resulted in a 55- 65% reduction in immediate and deferred antibiotic prescriptions. The intervention was popular with patients and medical staff but was associated with increased cost and a longer appointment length.
Keywords
Point-of-Care-Testing; GAS infections; molecular; quality improvement; antimicrobial stewardship
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
