Table 2.
Comparison of effectiveness of short and long courses of antibiotics in children
| Condition (Source systematic review) | Primary Outcome | Definition of short versus long courses | Studies (#) | Patients (#) | Relative effect of short compared to long duration (95%CI) | Interpretation of summary risk statistic | Duration of antibiotic course supported by results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group A Streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis (Falagas, 2008) | Clinical success | 5–7 days versus 10 days | 4 | 823 | 1.03 (0.97–1.11) | OR > 1 supports short course | No difference for short versus long |
| Community acquired pneumonia (Haider, 2011) | Clinical cure | 3 versus 5 days | 3 | 5763 | 0.99 (0.97, 1.01) | RR > 1 supports long course | No difference for short versus long |
| Acute otitis media (Kozyrskyj, 2010) | Treatment failure <2 years old | >48 hours versus ≥ 7 daysa | 5 | 570 | 1.09 (0.76, 1.57) | OR > 1 supports long course | No difference for short versus long |
| Treatment failure ≥2 years old | >48 hours versus ≥7 daysa | 6 | 1064 | 0.85 (0.60, 1.21) | No difference for short versus long | ||
| Urinary tract infection (Michael, 2010) | Bacteriuria after completing treatment | 2–4 days versus 7–14 days | 8 | 423 | 1.06 (0.64, 1.76) | RR >1 supports long course | No difference for short versus long |
aShort course in this study is defined as >48 up to 7 days, and long is ≥7 days.