Guidelines for management of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis: impact on Quebec physicians' prescriptions for antibiotics.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the impact of widely distributed guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis (ABRS) on physician prescribing patterns.


METHODS
The overall numbers of prescriptions were compared between Quebec and the rest of Canada (excluding Quebec) using IMS Health Canada Canadian Disease and Therapeutic Index and CompuScript data on the antibiotics use for ABRS for the 3-month period immediately following the distribution of the guidelines and the corresponding period the previous year.


RESULTS
In comparison to the corresponding period during the previous year, antibiotic prescriptions for ABRS decreased 5.5% overall in Quebec compared with a 30.1% increase recorded in Canada excluding Quebec.


CONCLUSIONS
While the reduction in antibiotics use noted may be multifactorial, it nevertheless suggests that it may be able to affect physician prescribing habits.


CONCLUSIONS
Knowledge of the effectiveness of this method of distribution of guidelines could be used to plan more effective means of distribution of future guidelines.
Duval
Melanie
M
McGill University, and Department of Otolaryngology, Hotel-Dieu Hospital, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Desrosiers
Martin
M
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011792:Quebec; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents