Inappropriate Fluoroquinolone Use in Academic and Non-academic Primary Care Clinics

Excerpt

Within the USA, it is estimated that 30% of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions may be inappropriate.¹ In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship, which recommended clinicians and facilities perform tracking and reporting of antibiotic prescribing as an initiative to develop outpatient antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) and reduce inappropriate antibiotic use.² Fluoroquinolones are a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics that are over-utilized in the outpatient setting with several recent Food and Drug Administration warnings for serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs).^{3, 4} An estimated 5.1% and 19.9% of fluoroquinolone prescriptions are for indications not requiring antibiotics or have indications with alternative first-line antibiotics, respectively.⁵ One study demonstrated 84.0% of outpatient fluoroquinolone prescriptions were inappropriate based on guideline recommendations.⁶ The purpose of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of fluoroquinolone prescribing in both academic and non-academic primary care clinics. …