Primary care clinicians' perceptions about antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis: a qualitative study.

Background: Clinicians prescribe antibiotics to over 65% of adults with acute bronchitis despite guidelines stating that antibiotics are not indicated.

Methods: To identify and understand primary care clinician perceptions about antibiotic prescribing for acute bronchitis, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 primary care clinicians in Boston, Massachusetts and used thematic content analysis.

Results: All the participants agreed with guidelines that antibiotics are not indicated for acute bronchitis and felt that clinicians other than themselves were responsible for overprescribing.

Visit complexity, diagnostic uncertainty, and antibiotic prescribing for acute cough in primary care: a retrospective study.

Background: Guidelines and performance measures recommend avoiding antibiotics for acute cough/acute bronchitis and presume visits are straightforward with simple diagnostic decision-making. We evaluated clinician-assigned diagnoses, diagnostic uncertainty, and antibiotic prescribing for acute cough visits in primary care.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of acute cough visits - cough lasting ≤21 days in adults 18-64 years old without chronic lung disease - in a primary care practice from March 2011 through June 2012.