88% of US Adults Still Endorse Finishing Full Antibiotic Courses Despite Evidence for Shorter Durations in Pneumonia
The survey exposes entrenched public adherence to obsolete antibiotic duration advice. Shorter courses reduce harm for many infections yet face resistance from prior messaging. Targeted clinician conversations are required to align behavior with current evidence.
Next steps require randomized trials of clinician-patient communication tools measuring actual adherence and resistance outcomes within 18 months. Health systems should track changes in dispensed antibiotic days post-intervention against baseline stewardship metrics. Without such data, guideline shifts risk remaining aspirational rather than operational.
Thorpe et al.: At least two major US health systems will revise patient-facing antibiotic materials to remove universal 'finish the course' language by December 2027.
Sources (2)
- [1]Primary Source(https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofag407)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://www.idsociety.org/practice-guideline/community-acquired-pneumonia/)