• Ulla-Maija Rautakorpi, Solja Huikko, Pekka Honkanen, Timo Klaukka, Marjukka Makela, Erkki Palva, Risto Roine, Hannu Sarkkinen, Helena Varonen, Pentti Huovinen, and MIKSTRA Collaborative Study Group.
• Finnish Office for Health Technology Assessment, National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland. ulla-maija.rautakorpi@stakes.fi
• Clin. Infect. Dis. 2006 May 1;42(9):1221-30.

BackgroundA national 5-year follow-up study of infection-specific antibiotic use in primary care was conducted to see if prescribing practices change after implementing new treatment guidelines.MethodsThe data were collected during 1 week of November each year from 1998 to 2002 from 30 health care centers that covered a total population of 819,777 persons and in 2002 from 20 control health care centers that covered a population of 545,098 persons. National guidelines for 6 major infections (otitis media, sinusitis, throat infection, acute bronchitis, urinary tract infection, and bacterial skin infection) were published in 1999-2000. Multifaceted interventions were performed by local trainers teaching his or her coworkers, supported by feedback and patient and public information.ResultsThe 6 infections targeted for intervention, together with unspecified upper respiratory tract infection constituted 80%-85% of all infections. The proportion of patients who received prescriptions for antibiotics did not change significantly. However, use of first-line antibiotics increased for all infections, and the change was significant for sinusitis (P<.001), acute bronchitis (P=.015), and urinary tract infections (P=.009). Also, the percentage of antibiotic treatments prescribed for the recommended duration increased significantly. Correct prescribing for respiratory tract infections improved by 6.4 percentage units (P<.001). However, there was no statistically significant difference in performance between study and control health care centers at follow-up.ConclusionsModerate qualitative improvements in antibiotic use were observed after multifaceted intervention, but prescribing for unjustified indications, mainly acute bronchitis, did not decrease. Obtained infection-specific information on management of patients with infections in primary health care is an important basis for planning targeted interventions in the future.

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