A pilot study in our CCG was carried out in five general practices that were our highest antibiotic prescribers. The idea was to assess whether the use of C-reactive protein point of care testing (CRP POCT) for patients presenting with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) reduced antibiotic prescribing in these practices.
The results showed that 81% of patients offered CRP POCT did not receive antibiotics. We believe that if CRP POCT was not available then the majority of these patients would have been prescribed antibiotics. CRP POCT has therefore proven to be a beneficial tool in these highly prescribing practices. Overall rates of antibiotic use for all practices who used the tests also reduced. The test reduced future appointments from the same patients and for patients who returned after receiving no antibiotics all were re-tested and half of these did not require antibiotics. The test was important in changing patient behaviours around antibiotics in self-limiting infections.
The pilot has reduced inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in patients presenting with LRTI's in primary care and has shown that selective use of CRP POCT can be a valuable tool in primary care, supporting GPs to use antibiotics more effectively.
