Research shows doctors are less likely to follow medical guidelines
news.mit.edu
news.mit.edu
After reading the title, this was my first thought.
From my perspective, as a full time software engineer, I imagine I am much less likely to follow PC troubleshooting steps in the same exact order as “prescribed” by an support person, than maybe an average joe who would follow the support guidelines strictly.
> The latter [broad-spectrum antibiotics] might be more likely to eradicate an infection, but greater use of them also increases the chances that bacteria will develop resistance to these valuable medications, which can reduce efficacy for other patients.
Wife and I are physicians, 2 kindergarten aged kids, not sure any of us have had an antibiotic in the last decade. Most of my colleagues feel similarly with their families. Much more likely to give an antibiotic to a patient who doesn't have the medical expertise / patience to watch and wait, and for whom it's much less convenient to get an Rx later if they're getting worse.
Evidence on "completing the full course" seems pretty shaky, both in terms of outcomes and rates of resistance. If anything I would expect physicians to be erring on the "less is more" side of antibiotic Rx.
I find it weird that we would give out antibiotics if we don't even know yet that the issue is bacterial.
Especially because if it's not bacterial, an antibiotic will weaken your body.
I worked in an ER room in Central Europe while I was studying medicine a while ago. We saved many lives by prescribing wide-spectrum antibiotics for advanced pneumonia without waiting for bac culture results. Once patients deteriorate beyond naturally getting enough oxygen, their chances of survival go down for every 12 hours the treatment is delayed.
I laugh when I see researchers say that medics should use narrow-spectrum antibiotics for patients like these. They forget "first, do no harm", which delaying treatment would undoubtedly do. Besides, no good doctor wants to kill their patients to be "right".
Aside from antibiotics, the off-label use of many medicines has helped many people tremendously. Doctors sometimes do know better than guidelines.
I agree that there are other, more grey-area situations with antibiotic use. Especially when doctors are a bit lazy and want to get done quickly with a patient with a mild infection, those situations are not very ethical. However, off-guideline use of antibiotics can save lives. That is my point.