Family practice
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Self-medication is commonly practised by patients, underpinned by health beliefs that affect their adherence to medication regimens, and impacting on treatment outcomes. ⋯ This review highlights a high proportion of people with hypertension practise self-medication. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of self-medication with OTC and anti-hypertensive medications on hypertension treatment. Health professionals involved in hypertension management should be mindful of any types of self-medication practices.
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Antibiotic resistance is a public health concern, and is linked to over-prescribing. In self-limiting infections such as acute otitis media (AOM) and acute sinusitis, prescribing remains high despite strong guideline recommendations against the routine use of antibiotics. Early career General Practitioners may find evidence-based prescribing challenging. ⋯ Early career GPs are not prescribing in an evidence-based manner. The complexity of guidelines for AOM and acute sinusitis may be confusing for prescribers, especially early career doctors struggling with inexperience and diagnostic uncertainty. Educational interventions are necessary to bring prescribing rates closer to quality benchmarks.
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To examine the public's views towards their choice of first-contact care and its associated factors in urban China. ⋯ The public's preference for hospital-based services for first-contact care places a huge obstacle to promoting community-based primary care. Addressing the public's concerns about the primary care practitioners' competence is worth more efforts.
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Observational Study
Antibiotic management of children with infectious diseases in Dutch Primary Care.
Childhood infections are common in general practice. Although clinical guidelines recommend restrictive antibiotic use for children, antibiotics are too often prescribed. ⋯ This detailed insight in antibiotic management of childhood infections shows targets for Dutch improvement strategies: (i) prevent antibiotic prescribing for acute upper RTI and bronchitis; (ii) stimulate the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics; and (iii) reduce the use of macrolides and amoxicillin/clavulanate. Furthermore, this information is helpful to compare antibiotic policy between countries.