Management of upper respiratory tract infections in Dutch general practice; antibiotic prescribing rates and incidences in 1987 and 2001.

Background And Aim: This study aims to assess differences in antibiotic prescribing and incidence of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs) between 1987 and 2001, before (1987) and after (2001) publication of Dutch guidelines on URTIs. DESIGN, SETTING AND METHOD: Data were collected in two national surveys: 96 general practices (n=344,449 patients) in 1987 and 90 general practices (n=358,008 patients) in 2001. Outcome measures were: (1) antibiotic prescribing rates for acute otitis media (AOM), common cold, sinusitis and acute tonsillitis; (2) number of antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 patients per year; (3) incidence rates per 1000 patients per year.

Outpatient antibiotic prescriptions from 1992 to 2001 in the Netherlands.

Objectives: Although Dutch outpatient antibiotic prescription rates are low compared with other European countries, continuing to scrutinize trends in outpatient antibiotic use is important in order to identify possible increases in antibiotic use or inappropriate increases in the use of particular classes of antibiotics.

Methods: We assessed the volume of Dutch outpatient antibiotic prescriptions from 1992 to 2001 by calculating the mean number of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions (indicating the number of times physicians decide to prescribe an antibiotic agent) per 1000 patients insured by the Dutch Sickness Fund per year, according to subgroups (narrow-spectrum penicillins, broad-spectrum penicillins, tetracyclines, macrolides, sulphonamides and trimethoprim, and quinolones). Data were obtained from the Dutch Drug Information Project/Health Care Insurance Board.

The foot function index with verbal rating scales (FFI-5pt): A clinimetric evaluation and comparison with the original FFI.

Objective: To assess the clinimetric value of the Dutch version of the Foot Function Index (FFI) in comparison with the original FFI using verbal rating scales (FFI-5pt) rather than visual analog scales (VAS).

Methods: A prospective study was performed on 206 patients with nontraumatic forefoot complaints. Scoring, internal consistency, and construct validity of the FFI-5pt were compared with those of the original FFI, which rates all items on VAS.