Drug study backs fiscal restraint for otitis media
Drug study backs fiscal restraint for otitis media
Choosing a less expensive antibiotic will not impair successful treatment of pediatric acute otitis media, the common ear infection of infants and children, according to a recent study. Led by the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and supported by the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, 12,381 patients 13 and younger were followed during a two-year period.
The study concludes that based on the range of antibiotics available ranging in cost from $2.94 to $62.80 for a 10-day treatment for infants 19 to 24 months, for example substantial savings are possible as treatment proved equally successful no matter what antibiotic was chosen. Researchers say prescribing amoxicillin alone, for example, proved just as effective as the use of more expensive antibiotics, including cefaclor, cefixine, and amoxicillin/clavulanate.
They also note that although financial incentives played no part in prescribing trends, hospital outpatient departments and commu-nity health centers prescribed and dispensed more cheaper antibiotics, while office-based physicians tended to prescribe more expensive ones. t
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