Written information can reduce use of antibiotics for acute URTIs

Providing a booklet and explanation by a specially trained doctor reduced the number of antibiotics children consumed by 20% (from 42% to 22%) without affecting parent satisfaction with the consultation or numbers of return visits for the same illness. Compared with the doctor’s usual practice, 2 studies showed that providing a booklet reduced the proportion of children prescribed an antibiotic by 9% to 21%. When doctors were also given feedback on their antibiotic prescribing, along with providing a booklet to parents, the proportion of children prescribed an antibiotic increased by 6% (from 44% to 50%).