Doctors unnecessarily prescribe more antibiotics in the evening than in the morning, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine. In fact, the more time goes by, the more general practitioners give this type of medication for respiratory infections, for which antibiotics are ineffective.
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston analyzed the prescriptions and medical data of more than 21,000 adults with acute respiratory infections in 23 surgeries over 17 months. When infections are viral, these drugs are ineffective.
The results of their investigation revealed that the prescription ofantibiotics increases throughout the day and peaks in the early evening. Patients who are treated with antibiotics if they have consulted in the evening are 5% more numerous than those who go to the doctor in the morning.
“Doctors have to wear down over the course of the day, which makes them more likely to make mistakes and ineffective prescriptions,” says lead study author Dr. Jeffrey Linder, general practitioner at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston .
Antibiotic resistance, a public health problem
the misuse and overuse of antibiotics are the most important factors leading to antibiotic resistance. “Whenever antibiotics are used in any setting, bacteria evolve to develop resistance. This process can be happening at an alarming rate, ”said Steve Solomon, director of the US Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “These drugs are a precious and limited resource, the more we use antibiotics today, the less likely we are to have effective antibiotics tomorrow.”
“If we do not take meaningful steps to better prevent infections but also to change the way we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, we will gradually lose these benefits for global public health and the consequences will be devastating”, says Keiji Fukuda, assistant director general of the World Health Organization, for health security.
