Longitudinal antibiotic prescribing trends among US dental specialists within a pharmacy benefits manager, 2013 through 2015

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Am Dent Assoc
• Personal Author:
  Durkin, Michael J. ; Feng, Qianxi ; Suda, Katie J. ; Lockhart, Peter B. ; Thornhill, Martin H. ; Warren, Kyle ; Munshi, Kiraat D. ; Henderson, Rochelle R. ; Fraser, Victoria J.
• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epicenters
• Description:
  Background.
  
  Reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions (Rxs) is a major quality improvement initiative in the United States. Tracking antibiotic prescribing trends is 1 method of assessing improvement in antibiotic prescribing. The purpose of this study was to assess longitudinal antibiotic prescribing practices among dental specialists.
  
  Methods.
  
  This was a retrospective ecological longitudinal trend study. The authors calculated monthly systemic antibiotic Rx counts, and rates per 100,000 beneficiaries, from a pharmacy benefits manager in the United States from 2013 through 2015. The authors calculated average annual antibiotic Rx rates (AARs) for the 3-year study period. The authors used a quasi-Poisson regression model to analyze antibiotic Rx trends. The authors quantified seasonal trends, when present, via peak-to-trough ratios (PTTRs).
  
  Results.
  
  Dental specialists prescribed 2.4 million antibiotics to the cohort of 38 million insurance beneficiaries during the 3-year study period (AAR = 2,086 Rxs per 100,000 beneficiaries). Oral and maxillofacial surgeons prescribed the most antibiotics (1,172,104 Rxs; AAR = 1,018 Rxs per 100,000 beneficiaries), followed by periodontists (527,038 Rxs; AAR = 457 Rxs per 100,000 beneficiaries), and endodontists (447,362 Rxs; AAR = 388 Rxs per 100,000 beneficiaries). Longitudinal antibiotic prescribing trends were stable among all dental specialties in the regression models (P > .05). The authors observed substantial seasonal variation in antibiotic Rxs in 2 specialties: pediatric dentistry (PTTR, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.13 to 1.25) and orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics (PTTR, 1.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.21 to 1.71), with the highest rates of antibiotic Rxs in the spring and winter.
  
  Conclusions.
  
  Antibiotic prescribing practices for dental specialists remained stable. The authors observed seasonal trends in 2 specialties.
  
  Practical Implications.
  
  Public health efforts are needed improve antibiotic prescribing among dental specialties.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Anti-Bacterial Agents Antimicrobial Resistance Antimicrobials Article Bacteria Child Cohort Studies Dental Public Health Epidemiology Humans Inappropriate Prescribing Infectious Diseases Practice Patterns, Physicians' Retrospective Studies Specialization United States

  More +
• Source:
  J Am Dent Assoc. 150(10):846-853.e5
• Pubmed ID:
  31561761
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC7954126
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U54 CK000609/CK/NCEZID CDC HHSUnited States/ ; KL2 TR002346/TR/NCATS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U54 CK000482/CK/NCEZID CDC HHSUnited States/ ; L30 AI133778/AI/NIAID NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U54CK000482/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  150
• Issue:
  10
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:310665208f5acfebcf3af934a2f592dac96025d0fa2fe583f52b6c84161dc74b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/104108/cdc_104108_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 533.24 KB ]