The Journal of family practice
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In recent years much has been written about the overuse of antibiotics, especially for common respiratory illnesses. One approach to this issue is the use of a back-up prescription, only to be filled if a patient's condition deteriorates or fails to improve. The purpose of our study was to determine patient satisfaction, prescription fill rates, and correlates of these outcomes among patients receiving back-up antibiotic prescriptions. ⋯ Our findings indicate that patients were very satisfied with a back-up antibiotic prescription. The fact that half of the patients chose not to fill these prescriptions suggests a potential health care cost savings.