The effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care-A systematic review.

<h4>Background</h4>Abundant evidence in dentistry suggests that antibiotics are prescribed despite the existence of guidelines aiming to reduce the development of antibiotic resistance. This review investigated (1) which type of interventions aiming to optimise prescription of antibiotic...

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Main Authors: Christin Löffler, Femke Böhmer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188061
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author Christin Löffler
Femke Böhmer
author_facet Christin Löffler
Femke Böhmer
author_sort Christin Löffler
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Abundant evidence in dentistry suggests that antibiotics are prescribed despite the existence of guidelines aiming to reduce the development of antibiotic resistance. This review investigated (1) which type of interventions aiming to optimise prescription of antibiotics exist in dentistry, (2) the effect of these interventions and (3) the specific strengths and limitations of the studies reporting on these interventions.<h4>Method</h4>Literature search was based on Medline, Embase, Global Health, Cochrane CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov and Current Controlled Trials. Studies with one of the two primary outcomes were included: (1) The number of antibiotics prescribed and/or (2) the accuracy of the prescription, commonly measured as a percentage of adherence to local clinical guidelines.<h4>Results</h4>Nine studies met these inclusion criteria. Five studies reported on the prescription of antibiotics in primary dental care and four studies focused on outpatient dental care. Interventions used in primary dental care included a combination of audit, feedback, education, local consensus, dissemination of guidelines and/or academic detailing. Trials in the outpatient setting made use of expert panel discussions, educational feedback on previous acts of prescribing, the dissemination of guidelines and the establishment of internal guidelines. All studies successfully reduced the number of antibiotics prescribed and/or increased the accuracy of the prescription. However, most studies were confounded by a high risk of selection bias, selective outcome reporting and high variance across study groups. In particular, information relating to study design and methodology was insufficient. Only three studies related the prescriptions to the number of patients treated with antibiotics.<h4>Conclusions</h4>This systematic review was able to offer conclusions which took the limitations of the investigated studies into account. Unfortunately, few studies could be included and many of these studies were confounded by a low quality of scientific reporting and lack of information regarding study methodology. High-quality research with objective and standardised outcome reporting, longer periods of follow-up, rigorous methodology and adequate standard of study reporting is urgently needed.
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spelling doaj-art-8e275a934d2e44a7ab2be53229a7fddb2025-08-20T03:26:30ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-011211e018806110.1371/journal.pone.0188061The effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care-A systematic review.Christin LöfflerFemke Böhmer<h4>Background</h4>Abundant evidence in dentistry suggests that antibiotics are prescribed despite the existence of guidelines aiming to reduce the development of antibiotic resistance. This review investigated (1) which type of interventions aiming to optimise prescription of antibiotics exist in dentistry, (2) the effect of these interventions and (3) the specific strengths and limitations of the studies reporting on these interventions.<h4>Method</h4>Literature search was based on Medline, Embase, Global Health, Cochrane CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov and Current Controlled Trials. Studies with one of the two primary outcomes were included: (1) The number of antibiotics prescribed and/or (2) the accuracy of the prescription, commonly measured as a percentage of adherence to local clinical guidelines.<h4>Results</h4>Nine studies met these inclusion criteria. Five studies reported on the prescription of antibiotics in primary dental care and four studies focused on outpatient dental care. Interventions used in primary dental care included a combination of audit, feedback, education, local consensus, dissemination of guidelines and/or academic detailing. Trials in the outpatient setting made use of expert panel discussions, educational feedback on previous acts of prescribing, the dissemination of guidelines and the establishment of internal guidelines. All studies successfully reduced the number of antibiotics prescribed and/or increased the accuracy of the prescription. However, most studies were confounded by a high risk of selection bias, selective outcome reporting and high variance across study groups. In particular, information relating to study design and methodology was insufficient. Only three studies related the prescriptions to the number of patients treated with antibiotics.<h4>Conclusions</h4>This systematic review was able to offer conclusions which took the limitations of the investigated studies into account. Unfortunately, few studies could be included and many of these studies were confounded by a low quality of scientific reporting and lack of information regarding study methodology. High-quality research with objective and standardised outcome reporting, longer periods of follow-up, rigorous methodology and adequate standard of study reporting is urgently needed.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188061
spellingShingle Christin Löffler
Femke Böhmer
The effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care-A systematic review.
PLoS ONE
title The effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care-A systematic review.
title_full The effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care-A systematic review.
title_fullStr The effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care-A systematic review.
title_full_unstemmed The effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care-A systematic review.
title_short The effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care-A systematic review.
title_sort effect of interventions aiming to optimise the prescription of antibiotics in dental care a systematic review
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188061
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