Table 1.
Characteristics of Antibiotic Use for Outpatient Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infection Visits
| Variable | Antibiotics prescribed | Antibiotic duration when prescribed (d) | Duration ≤7 d | Duration ≥10 d | Appropriate antibiotic duration | Appropriate antibiotic agent | Optimal prescribing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antibiotics always inappropriate (n=518) | 111/518 | 6.7 | 80 | 31 | |||
| Acute nasopharyngitis | 2/33 | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Acute laryngitis or tracheitis | 5/22 | 8.4 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Acute laryngopharyngitis | 0/1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Acute upper respiratory tract infection | 35/275 | 7.0 | 25 | 10 | |||
| Acute bronchitis | 18/36 | 6.4 | 13 | 5 | |||
| Bronchitis not specified | 50/124 | 6.5 | 38 | 12 | |||
| Influenza | 1/27 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Antibiotics potentially appropriate (n=393) | 238/393 | 8.0 | 115 | 123 | |||
| Sinusitis without indication for antibiotics | 79/133 | 8.0 | 35 | 44 | |||
| Sinusitis with indication for antibiotics | 104/105 | 7.8 | 56 | 49 | 55/105 (52.4%) | 77/105 (73.3%) | 30/105 (28.6%) |
| Pharyngitis without indication for antibiotics | 32/131 | 7.8 | 18 | 14 | |||
| Pharyngitis with indication for antibiotics | 23/24 | 8.8 | 7 | 16 | 18/23 (78.3%) | 11/23 (47.8%) | 12/23 (52.2%) |