Physician-Targeted Interventions in Antibiotic Prescribing for Urinary Tract Infections in General Practice: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common reason for women to consult a general practitioner (GP). While UTIs are self-limiting in half of cases, most women are prescribed antibiotics, often in discordance with established guidelines. Researchers have employed different interventions to improve GPs’ prescribing behavior, especially for respiratory infections, but it is uncertain whether these are effective for UTI care. Therefore, we performed a systematic review, including (cluster) randomized clinical trials investigating the effect of interventions targeted at GPs to improve antibiotic prescriptions for UTI. From September to December 2021 we searched the Medline, Web of Science, and CENTRAL databases, ultimately including ten studies describing eleven trials. We determined the effect of the interventions on the decision to prescribe and on the choice of antibiotic. Results showed that most studies employed multifaceted interventions, most frequently including audit & feedback and/or educational meetings. Seven out of nine trials that recorded first-choice prescriptions saw an increased proportion of first-choice antibiotics in the intervention groups compared to control groups. The employed interventions also caused a decreased proportion of at least one broad-spectrum antibiotic in five out of six studies that measured broad-spectrum antibiotic prescriptions. However, the total number of antibiotic prescriptions for UTIs increased in four out of eight studies. Therefore, while effective at influencing GPs’ prescribing behavior, future interventions should also focus on improving the decision to prescribe at all.