Doctors incorrectly prescribing antibiotics to treat conjunctivitis

{{quote-A:R-W:450-I:2-Q: Aside from promoting antibiotic resistance, the practice has seen costs blow out for patients and the healthcare syst. -WHO:Dr Nakul Shekhawat, Ophthalmologist in Ann Arbor, Michigan}}The trend was discovered by researchers from the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, who found around 60% of patients with acute conjunctivitis were prescribed antibiotic eye drops, even when they were not required. A further 20% had been prescribed antibiotic steroid eye drops, which had the potential to worsen and prolong the infection.Published in the journal Ophthalmology, the study was the first in the US to assess the use of antibiotics in the treatment of conjunctivitis.The study results were consistent with a national trend of perceived misuse of antibiotics to treat mild bacterial or common viral infections. Aside from promoting antibiotic resistance, the practice has seen costs blow out for patients and the healthcare syst.Researchers evaluated a 14-year period in which around 300,000 patients had been diagnosed with acute conjunctivitis. Lead author of the study, Dr Nakul Shekhawat, said the study exposed the over-prescription of antibiotics for common eye infections.“It shows that current treatment decisions for pink eye are not based on evidence, but are often driven more by the type of healthcare practitioner making the diagnosis and the patient’s socioeconomic status than by medical reasons,” Shekhawat said.{{image3-a:l-w:400}}A contributing factor to the trend was that primary care providers such as family physicians, paediatricians or general practitioners, instead of an ophthalmologist or optometrist, diagnosed 83% of the patients in the study.Patients diagnosed by a primary care or urgent care provider were 2–3x more likely to fill prescriptions for antibiotic eye drops than patients diagnosed by an ophthalmologist.According to Shekhawat, it can be a challenge to differentiate bacterial conjunctivitis from the viral and allergic forms as all three types may have overlapping features. This can result in healthcare providers “erring on the side of caution” and prescribing antibiotics “just in case.”As a result, the American Acady of Ophthalmology has issued a mo to help practitioners treat conjunctivitis, which includes avoiding the prescription of antibiotics for infections caused by viral conditions and delaying immediate treatment until the actual cause of the conjunctivitis is determined.