Safety of reducing antibiotic prescribing in primary care. Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Safety of reducing AB prescribing in primary care. Systematic new evidence from electronic health records
IRAS ID
238594
Contact name
Martin Gulliford
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Infections are becoming more resistant to treatment by antibiotics (ABs). Therefore, we need to make sure that ABs are only prescribed when they are really needed. Not all infections need AB treatment but doctors and patients are concerned about the risk of not treating an apparently minor infection. We currently don’t know what level of AB use in primary care is acceptable and safe. This research is to understand more about the safety of reducing AB prescription in primary care, and to understand the impact of policies aimed at reducing AB prescribing. We will study primary care patient electronic health records from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to find out how these potential complications are associated with antibiotic prescribing or non-prescribing. The MHRA ISAC committee has approved this part of the research. This application seeks approval for the qualitative stage of the research. We plan to talk to patients, health practitioners and managers about our findings from analysis of electronic health records. The purpose of these interviews is to understand their perceptions of the risks and benefits of reduced antibiotic prescribing, and to understand their preferences and values with respect to reducing antibiotic prescribing. The idea for the study has been discussed with patients one of whom will join the study team as a co-applicant. We will have a patient advisory group that will meet regularly and advise the research of the views and values of patients. This research will provide policy-makers with better evidence concerning the safety of policies to reduce AB prescribing. The research will also help to inform the decisions of individual patients and health practitioners about whether ABs need to be prescribed across a wide-range of clinical contexts.
REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1874
Date of REC Opinion
30 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion