Table 1.
Summary of the characteristics of the included studies.
| Author (year) | Country a | SP b | Setting c | SS d | P/CC e | TP f | SD g | Source of Data h | TG i | Quality Assesment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [57] Stewart et al. (2000) | CN | P, OH, PA | PC | 15 | URTI, LRTI | n.d | Before and after controlled trial | PH, HI | Nat | Weak |
| [25] Wilson et al. (2003) | AU | P | HC | 54 Pre, 40 Post | ARTI | Pe | RCT | HI | Loc | Weak |
| [26] Thamlikitkul and Apisitwittaya (2003) | TH | P | HC | 12 + 837 C Pre, 774 C Post | URTI | A | n.d | MR | Loc | Weak |
| [37] Pagaiya and Garner (2005) | TH | Oh | PC | 18 | ARTI | Pe | RCT | MR | Nat | Moderate |
| [48] Razon et al. (2005) | IL | P | PC | 27 + 4580 C Pre, 4364 C Post | URTI | Pe 3 months to 18 years |
Multicenter before and after study | MR | Int | Moderate |
| [51] Rautakorpi et al. (2006) | FI | P | PC | 453 Pre, 709 Post + 7774 C Pre, 10322 C Post | RTI, UTI | Pop | n.d | MRS | Nat | Weak |
| [52] Shrestha et al. (2006) | NP | P, Oh | PC | 238 C Pre, 168 C Post | Asthma, COPD, PNA | A (34 to 70 years) | cRCT | MR | Nat | Moderate |
| [53] Camacho et al. (2007) | BO | P | PC | 78 + 1033 C Pre, 1154 C Post | URTI, LRTI, CRD | Pop (9 to 58 years) | n.d | MRS | Nat | Weak |
| [54] Brimkulov et al. (2009) | KG | P | PC | 86 + 893 C Pre, 992 C Pre | URTI, LRTI, CRD | Pop (5 to 49 years) | n.d | MRS | Nat | Moderate |
| [55] Smeets et al. (2009) | NL | P | PC | 382 | RTI | A (40 to 55 years) | Controlled before and after trial | HI | Nat | Weak |
| [56] Reyes-Morales et al. (2009) | MX | P | PC | 106 | ARTI | Pop (1 to 85 years) | NRC pre post T | I, MR | Loc | Weak |
| [28] Me’emary et al. (2009) | SAR | P | PC | 76 + 1806 C Pre, 75+1099 C Post | URTI, LRTI, CRD | Pop (5 to 42 years) | n.d | MRS | Loc | Weak |
| [27] Bjerrum et al. (2011) | AR, DK, LT, RU, ES, SE | P | PC | 440 + 24436 C Pre, 22575 C Post | URTI, LRTI | Pop (3 to 62 years) | n.d | MRS | Int | Weak |
| [29] Angoulvant et al. (2011) | FR | P | PC, HC | 11260 C Pre, 15505 C Post | ARTI | Pe (<18 years) | Retrospective | MR | Nat | Weak |
| [30] Dommergues and Hentgen (2012) | FR | P | HC | 400 GP + 435 S | URTI | Pe (<18 years) | Observational | MRS | Nat | Moderate |
| [31] Gerber et al. (2013) | USA | P | PC | 170 Pre; 162 Post | ARTI | Pe (1 to 10 years) | cRCT | MR | Nat | Weak |
| [32] Grover et al. (2013) | USA | P, Oh | PC | 17 + 241 C | ARTI | Pop | n.d | MRS | Nat | Weak |
| [33] Gjelstad et al. (2013) | NO | P | PC | 489 Pre, 382 Post | ARTI | Pop | cRCT | MR | Nat | Weak |
| [34] Angoulvant et al. (2013) | FR | P | PC, HC | 149018 C | ARTI, URTI | Pe (<18 years) | Prospective observational | MR | Nat | Weak |
| [58] Boonyasiri and Thamlikitkul (2014) | TH | P, OH | AC | 23637 C Pre + 1241 C Pos | URTI, | Pop (>2 years) | n.d | MRS | Nat | Weak |
| [35] Meeker et al. (2014) | USA | P, PA | PC | 14 | ARTI | A | RCT | MR | n.d | Weak |
| [36] Zimmerman et al. (2014) | USA | P, Oh, PA - (NH) | NH | n.d | RTI, UTI, SSTI | A, EP (>18 years) | Q-E | MRS | Nat | Weak |
| [38] Urrusuno et al. (2014) | ES | P | PC | 703 C Pre; 884 C Post | RTI, UTI, SSTI | Pop | Q-E | PR, MR | Loc | Weak |
| [39] van Buul et al. (2015) | NL | P, Oh (NH) |
NH | (10) 707C Pre; 552C Post | RTI, UTI, SSTI | EP (>43 years) | Q-E | MRS | Nat | Weak |
| [40] Hingorani et al. (2015) | USA | P, Oh | HC | 28 | ARTI, URTI | Pop | n.d | MR | Nat | Weak |
| [41] van der Velden et al. (2015) | NL | P | PC | 165 Pre; 163 Post | RTI | A | cRCT | PR | Nat | Weak |
| [42] Ferrat et al. (2016) | FR | P | PC | 203 Pre, 168 Post | RTI | Pop | RCT | HI | Nat | Weak |
| [43] Dyrkorn et al. (2016) | NO | P | PC | 53 + 1271 C Pre, 1212 C Post | ARTI | Pop | nRCT | MR | Nat | Weak |
| [44] Magin et al. (2017) | AU | P | MTF | 528 Pre, 213 Post | URTI | Pop | nRCT | MR | Nat | Weak |
| [45] Ouldali et al. (2017) | FR | P | PC | 61612 C Pre, 134450 C Post | ARTI | Pe (<18 years) | Q-E, ITS | MR | Nat | Weak |
| [47] Molero et al. (2018) | ES | P | PC | 224 Pre, 238 Post | RTI | Pop | n.d | MRS | Nat | Weak |
| [46] Sloane et al. (2019) | USA | P, Oh, PA - (NH) | NH | (27) | RTI, UTI, SSTI | EP (over 85) | quality improvement trial with two arms | NHR | n.d | Weak |
| [49] Wei et al. (2019) | CN | P, PA | PC | 2800 C Pre, 8769 C Post | URTI | Pe (2 to 14 years) | cRCT | MR | n.d | Weak |
| [50] Aoybamroong et al. (2019) | TH | P | MTF | 2553 C Pre, 2935 C Post | ARTI | Pe | Prospective before–after study | MR | Loc | Weak |
a Country: AU, Australia; TH, Thailand; FI, Finland; NP, Nepal; SW, Switzerland; NL, Netherlands; MX, Mexico; SAR, Syrian Arab Republic; AR, Argentina, DK, Denmark; LT, Lithuania; RU, Russia; ES, Spain; SE, Sweden; FR, France; USA, United States of America; NO, Norway; CN, China; IL, Israel; BO, Bolivia; KG, Kyrgyzstan; CN - Canada. b Study population: P, physicians; Pt, physician trainees; PA, patients; Oh, other healthcare providers. c Setting: PC, primary care; HC, hospital care; AC, ambulatory care; NH, Nursing home; MTF, medical training facility. d Sample size: Pre, pre-intervention/study beginning; Post, post-intervention/study end; C, consultations. e Pathology/clinical condition: RTI, respiratory tract infection; ARTI, acute respiratory tract infection; URTI, upper respiratory tract infection; LRTI, lower respiratory tract infection; CRD, chronic respiratory disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; PNA, pneumonia. f Type of patient: Pe, pediatric; A, adult; EP, elderly persons; Pop, all population. g Study design: RCT, randomized controlled trial; nRCT, non-randomized controlled trial; nRnCT, non-randomized non-controlled trial; cRCT, cluster-randomized controlled trial; cRnCT, cluster-randomized non-controlled trial; RCS, retrospective cohort study; PCS, prospective cohort study; Q-E, quasi-experimental; ITS, interrupted time series. h Source of data: PH, pharmacists claims; HI, health insurance; MR, medical records; MRS, medical records obtained from surveys; I, interviews; PR, pharmacy records; NHR, nursing home records.i Type of guideline: Int, international; Nat, national; Loc, locally prepared; NA, non applicable; n.d, not determined.