Antibiotic and antitussive prescribing among urgent care and emergency department visits for respiratory diagnoses in a large health system.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Urgent care centers (UCs) commonly evaluate patients with respiratory infections, and patients increasingly prefer UCs to emergency departments (EDs) because of their customer-centric approach. The aim of this study is to describe antibiotic and opioid prescribing among UC and ED visits with respiratory diagnoses.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study of visits to 7 EDs and 6 UCs in the greater Chicago area. We included visits from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2019, with a primary diagnosis of upper or lower respiratory infection. We describe the proportion of visits resulting in an antibiotic or antitussive prescription as well as the most frequently prescribed medications in these categories. We also describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of visits.

SUBMITTER: Zakharevich M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9149652 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature