• Michelle McNicholas and Gwendolyn Hooper.
• Capstone College of Nursing, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.
• Fam Pract. 2022 Jan 19; 39 (1): 1-5.

BackgroundAntibiotic stewardship programs in primary care are necessary to reduce the estimated 30% of inappropriately written antibiotic prescriptions and reduce the spread of microbial resistance. Most programs focus on educating prescribers, but this intervention focused on educating patients.ObjectivesTo develop and implement an antibiotic stewardship program in a primary care clinic to educate patients with upper respiratory infections (URIs) about antibiotic use and to assess the effectiveness of the program through antibiotic prescribing rates.MethodsUsing materials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Be Antibiotics Aware program, posters on antibiotic use were placed in the exam rooms, graphic interchange formats (GIFs) and memes were displayed on exam room monitors, patient-provider discussions on antibiotic use were held, and written information for symptom management of URIs was provided. Retrospective chart reviews were conducted to assess antibiotic prescribing rates by four prescribers in a primary care clinic for September and October 2020 and compared to the same time period for 2019.ResultsThe rate of total antibiotic prescriptions decreased by 12.6% (P = 0.044) and the rate of repeat consultation antibiotic prescriptions decreased by 12.2% (P = 0.007), whereas the rate of antibiotics prescribed at the time of the visit remained unchanged (P = 0.937). All providers had decreased rates of antibiotic prescribing after the intervention.ConclusionResults of this study indicate that providing education about antibiotics to patients in need of treatment for URIs may reduce the rate of antibiotics prescribed in primary care; however, further research is warranted.© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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