Press release
Minister for Health publishes important Paper on reducing unnecessary antibiotic prescribing
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly has today published a research paper entitled ‘Changing Behaviour: Reducing Unnecessary Antibiotic Prescribing’.
The systematic review and meta-analysis, conducted by the Strategic Research and Evaluation Unit in the Department of Health, in conjunction with the University of Limerick, shows how behaviour change interventions reduced antibiotic prescribing by 21%.
It evaluated international evidence across 22 international controlled trials and 23,000 patient consultations, to provide estimates of the overall effect of behaviour change interventions seeking to reduce unnecessary prescribing.
The paper will help to inform the Department’s ongoing work on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. AMR is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top 10 threats to public health. It poses a significant threat to our health service through reduced treatment options for infections, while also imposing a large financial burden on the State. AMR has previously been estimated to cost the Irish health service at least €12 million annually and to account for an estimated 215 attributable deaths in a year.
Promoting AMR research is a strategic objective of the WHO Global Action Plan 2015 and Ireland’s second One Health Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2021-2025 (iNAP2).
Commenting on the publication, Minister Donnelly said:
“We know that behavioural science plays a critical role in addressing the threat of AMR by reducing unnecessary prescribing, and the Paper I’m publishing today provides useful insights to assist Ireland’s work in tackling this significant public health risk.
“To protect our population, and our health service, we must ensure that antibiotics are only prescribed when necessary and appropriate to minimise resistance and to ensure that patients can continue to access them when they really need them.”
Chief Nursing Officer, Rachel Kenna said:
“Research on AMR is an important strategic objective in Ireland’s second One Health Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (iNAP2).
“As we prepare for the development of the next One Health Action Plan, this Paper adds to the growing body of data that will help to ensure that Ireland’s strategy is based on the best international evidence available.”
Interim Chief Medical Officer, Professor Mary Horgan said:
“This results in this Paper indicate that behaviour change interventions reduced antibiotic prescribing by 21% across 22 studies and 23,000 patient consultations.
“Tackling AMR is a complex cross sectoral issue, but this research provides valuable evidence of the important role of prescribers, showing how well-designed education and communication training for General Practitioners (GPs), the use of decision support tools and of delayed prescribing practices by GPs can reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.”
A copy of ‘Changing Behaviour: Reducing Unnecessary Antibiotic Prescribing. Systematic Review and Meta-analysis’ can be viewed here.
This Paper produced a systematic review and meta-analysis to answer the question, can behaviour change interventions reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing? It conducted a structured search for, and review of, published research papers. It attempted to collate all empirical evidence that fit the pre-specified eligibility criteria set out by the authors. This type of study, known as a systematic review, differs from a standard literature review as it involved a detailed and comprehensive plan and search strategy, with the goal of reducing bias by identifying, appraising, and synthesising all relevant studies. The Paper then combined results from multiple randomised control trials (the gold-standard for studying causal relationships) to obtain a quantitative estimate of the overall effect of a particular intervention (a meta-analysis). The approach used in this Paper ensures a less biassed analysis of evidence as it is less subject to author interpretation.
How did individual studies measure rates of unnecessary prescribing?
There were two different approaches to measuring rates of unnecessary prescribing in the primary studies included in this Paper. Studies either measured:
In both cases studies compared these figures across control and intervention groups.