title: Physician and dentist compliance with American Heart Association guidelines for prevention of bacterial endocarditis.
abstract: To determine the rate of physician and dentist compliance with the American Heart Association's (AHA) recommendations for prophylaxis against bacterial endocarditis--considered the standard of care--questionnaires were mailed to 1,131 dental and medical practitioners. They were asked to identify various cardiac conditions requiring prophylaxis and dental procedures that would cause a bacteremia, and to write prescriptions for prophylactic antibiotics for five different scenarios. Both groups had low compliance with AHA recommendations (32.9% collectively) when prescribing appropriate antibiotic regimens for bacterial endocarditis prophylaxis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Indiana University, Indianapolis 46202.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Van Blaricum
mesh_terms: D000573:American Hospital Association; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003815:Dentists; D004342:Drug Hypersensitivity; D004363:Drug Utilization; D004697:Endocarditis, Bacterial / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006349:Heart Valve Diseases; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D010406:Penicillins / Q000009:adverse effects; D010820:Physicians; D011292:Premedication; D012214:Rheumatic Heart Disease; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D010406:Penicillins