Table 2.

Elements of the clinical situation that result in the decision to prescribe or not prescribe antibiotics for urinary tract infections, respiratory tract infections, and skin infections

Clinical situation	Antibiotic	Urinary tract infection	Respiratory tract infection	Skin infection
Current	YES	Signs and symptoms (or a high risk of signs and symptoms), positive dipstick test (for leukocyte esterase, nitrite, or both)/dipslide/culture, patient experiences burden, patient feels ill, hematuria, vulnerability of the patient, comorbidity, no prior antibiotic resistance	Signs and symptoms, patient feels ill, vulnerability of the patient, risk of death, comorbidity	Signs and symptoms, vulnerability of the patient
	NO	Absence of (relevant) signs and symptoms whether or not in combination with a positive dipstick test (for leukocyte esterase, nitrite, or both), negative dipstick test, awaiting culture results in case of no/minimal signs and symptoms, patient does not feel ill, poor prognosis, acceptance of resistant bacteria in urine	Poor prognosis, suspected viral infection, no/minimal signs and symptoms, patient does not feel (severely) ill, physical inability to take oral medication, allowing immune system of the patient to clear infection	Absence of (relevant) signs and symptoms
Medical history	YES	Positive effect of treatment for previous infection, no/limited history of infection, ineffective previous treatment	Severe course of previous infection	-
	NO	-	No history of infection	-