TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kurotschka, Peter Konstantin
A1  - Tiedemann, Elena
A1  - Wolf, Dominik
A1  - Thier, Nicola
A1  - Forster, Johannes
A1  - Liese, Johannes G.
A1  - Gagyor, Ildiko
T1  - Management of common infections in German primary care: a cross-sectional survey of knowledge and confidence among General Practitioners and outpatient pediatricians
JF  - Antibiotics
N2  - Outpatient antibiotic use is closely related to antimicrobial resistance and in Germany, almost 70% of antibiotic prescriptions in human health are issued by primary care physicians (PCPs). The aim of this study was to explore PCPs, namely General Practitioners' (GPs) and outpatient pediatricians' (PDs) knowledge of guideline recommendations on rational antimicrobial treatment, the determinants of confidence in treatment decisions and the perceived need for training in this topic in a large sample of PCPs from southern Germany. Out of 3753 reachable PCPs, 1311 completed the survey (overall response rate = 34.9%). Knowledge of guideline recommendations and perceived confidence in making treatment decisions were high in both GPs and PDs. The two highest rated influencing factors on prescribing decisions were reported to be guideline recommendations and own clinical experiences, hence patients' demands and expectations were judged as not influencing treatment decisions. The majority of physicians declared to have attended at least one specific training course on antibiotic use, yet almost all the participating PCPs declared to need more training on this topic. More studies are needed to explore how consultation-related and context-specific factors could influence antibiotic prescriptions in general and pediatric primary care in Germany beyond knowledge. Moreover, efforts should be undertaken to explore the training needs of PCPs in Germany, as this would serve the development of evidence-based educational interventions targeted to the improvement of antibiotic prescribing decisions rather than being focused solely on knowledge of guidelines.
KW  - infectious diseases management
KW  - general practitioner
KW  - pediatrician
KW  - primary care
KW  - outpatient
KW  - antibiotic use
KW  - antimicrobial resistance
KW  - antimicrobial stewardship
KW  - survey
KW  - knowledge
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-246272
SN  - 2079-6382
VL  - 10
IS  - 9
ER  -