Understanding and Reducing Inappropriate Antibiotic Use in the Context of Delayed Prescriptions

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

  • Ana Paula Santana
  • Lars Korn
  • Cornelia Betsch
  • Eva M. Krockow
  • Elisabeth D.C. Sievert
  • Marina Gross
  • Maxine Pepper
  • Böhm, Robert

Objective: Antimicrobial resistance is a global health threat perpetuated by the overprescribing of antibiotics in primary care. One strategy to reduce antibiotic use in this setting is delayed prescribing. However, several psychological factors might undermine its effectiveness. The aim of the study was to test whether different interventions aiming at helping patients to manage diagnostic uncertainty in the period of watchful waiting promote appropriate antibiotic use. Method: We conducted a preregistered online experiment (N = 690 adult participants from the United Kingdom) in which we modeled delayed prescription in a decision task with behavior-contingent incentives. Participants had either a fictional viral or bacterial infection and received interventions that aimed at facilitating symptom monitoring (i.e., passive monitoring) and engaging participants in the task (i.e., active monitoring). Results: Both interventions decreased antibiotic use when the disease was viral. Active monitoring was more efficient in decreasing antibiotic use than passive monitoring. Conclusions: The findings have practical implications for managing uncertainty and fostering appropriate antibiotic use in delayed prescribing situations.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftHealth Psychology
ISSN0278-6133
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2024

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
The study presented in this article was funded by the German Research Foundation (Grants BO 4466/2-2 to Robert Böhm and BE 3970/8-2 and BE 3979/12-1 to Cornelia Betsch) and the Leibniz Foundation (Grant P106/2020 to Cornelia Betsch). The funding source had no influence on the design, analyses, or conclusions of this study. The funding institution had no influence on the research design nor on the interpretation of its results. The authors would like to acknowledge Simon Columbus for helpful discussions and feedback on the study’s design. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study’s preregistration form can be accessed at https://aspredicted.org/pp6id.pdf. Data, materials, and code for analyses are provided via Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/bj6fa/?view_only=8d934eff26184419bf58d687b58563a6).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Psychological Association

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