Rapid influenza tests may reduce antibiotic prescriptions, improve patient outcomes

Written by Dr. Shravani Dali Published On 2023-02-16T20:00:18+05:30 | Updated On 16 Feb 2023 3:26 PM GMT

Rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) may reduce antibiotic prescriptions, improve patient outcomes suggests a new study published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases

The potential benefits of using rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) in urgent care facilities for clinical care and prescribing practices are understudied. The researchers compared antiviral and antibiotic prescribing, imaging, and laboratory ordering in clinical encounters with and without rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) results.

They compared patients with acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms who received an RIDT and patients who did not at 2 urgent care facilities. Primary analysis using 1-to-1 exact matching resulted in 1145 matched pairs to which McNemar 2 × 2 tests were used to assess the association between the likelihood of prescribing, imaging/laboratory ordering, and RIDT use. Secondary analysis compared the same outcomes using logistic regression among the RIDT-tested population between participants who tested negative (RIDT(−)) and positive (RIDT(+)).

Results

Primary analysis revealed that compared to the non-RIDT-tested population, RIDT(+) patients were more likely to be prescribed antivirals and less likely to be prescribed antibiotics
Comparing RIDT-tested to non-RIDT-tested participants, RIDT use increased antiviral prescribing odds and reduced antibiotic prescribing odds
Secondary analysis identified increased odds of prescribing antivirals and decreased odds of prescribing antibiotics for RIDT(+) participants compared with RIDT(−).

Use of rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) in patients presenting with acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms influences clinician diagnostic and treatment decision-making, which could lead to improved patient outcomes, population-level reductions in influenza burden, and a decreased threat of antibiotic resistance.

Reference:

Source : Clinical Infectious Diseases

Dr. Shravani Dali

BDS

Dr. Shravani Dali has completed her BDS from Pravara institute of medical sciences, loni. Following which she extensively worked in the healthcare sector for 2+ years. She has been actively involved in writing blogs in field of health and wellness. Currently she is pursuing her Masters of public health-health administration from Tata institute of social sciences. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.