Antibiotic expectation, behaviour, and receipt among patients presenting to emergency departments with uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infection during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Pre-COVID-19 pandemic, patients who attended the emergency department (ED) for upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) were more likely to receive antibiotics if they expected them. These expectations could have changed with the change in health-seeking behaviour during the pandemic. We assessed the factors associated with antibiotics expectation and receipt for uncomplicated URTI patients in four Singapore EDs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study on adult patients with URTI from March 2021 to March 2022 in four Singapore EDs and assessed the determinants of antibiotics expectation and receipt using multivariable logistic regression models. We also assessed the reasons patients expect antibiotics during their ED visit.

Res

SUBMITTER: Huang Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9998126 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature