'In Texas, everybody wants antibiotics': reducing inappropriate antibiotic expectations and use with a provider-patient communication tool in primary care.

ABSTRACT:

Background/objective

Patients often expect antibiotics for self-limiting diseases, pressuring providers to prescribe antibiotics unnecessarily. These expectations also contribute to the unsafe practice of taking antibiotics without a prescription (non-prescription use), such as pills retained from prior prescriptions or antibiotics from non-medical sources. Previous work shows that non-prescription use is due to strong, widely held misconceptions regarding the curative power of antibiotics. To reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics, we developed and pilot-tested a patient-focused, bilingual (English and Spanish) educational tool with patient and provider stakeholder input. The tool, a trifold brochure, included information on safe antibiotic use, potential antibiotic harms and sympt

SUBMITTER: Collazo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12606499 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature