Abstract
Background
Respiratory illnesses represent one of the commonest reasons for pediatric visits to the ED, and over 50% of these children are prescribed antibiotics despite a viral etiology in most cases. Our objectives were to determine whether rapid respiratory pathogen (RRP) testing decreases antibiotic and health care utilization among children evaluated in the ED with a respiratory illness.
Methods
We conducted a randomized controlled trial among children 1 mo-18 yrs of age attending an ED with influenza like illness (ILI). All children received a nasopharyngeal swab for RRP testing, and were randomized to the intervention group (result given to providers and parents) or control group (result not given, routine clinical care). Families were interviewed on enrollment, 1 and 10 days later. The primary outcome was antibiotic use. Secondary outcomes included antiviral use, hospitalization and recurrent medical visits. Intention to treat (ITT) (assigned group) and pragmatic (provider knows test results) analyses were conducted using SAS v 9.4. Pragmatic analyses were adjusted using multivariable Poisson regression.
Results
Among 920 visits (890 children) with ILI, 795 (85%) were RRP positive. Sociodemographic characteristics between groups were similar; 37% of children in the intervention group were discharged before results were available and 12% of children in the control group underwent clinical testing. The median age was 2.1 yrs (IQR 0.88–5.6); 35% had high-risk comorbidities. In the ITT intervention group, children were more likely to receive antibiotics (RR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0–1.7) (Table 1). In adjusted pragmatic analyses, children with known results were more likely to receive antivirals (RR 2.6 95% CI 1.5–4.3) and be hospitalized (RR 2.0, 95% CI 1.5–2.7); antibiotic use was not significant (Table 2). Children testing negative for a virus were more likely to receive antibiotics than those with a virus (35% vs 23%, p = 0.01).
Table 1. Clinical Outcomes by Study Arm, Intention to Treat Analyses
Table 2. Clinical Outcomes by Study Arm, Pragmatic Analyses
Conclusion
Knowledge of testing led to a paradoxical increase in antibiotic prescribing, as well as an increase in appropriate antiviral prescribing, ED length of stay and hospitalization. Further studies are needed to assess whether RRP testing with faster turn around times or coupled with stewardship interventions may impact outcomes.
Disclosures
Suchitra Rao, MD, BioFire (Grant/Research Support) Molly Lamb, PhD, BioFire (Grant/Research Support) Rakesh Mistry, MD, MSCE, BioFire (Grant/Research Support) Samuel Dominguez, MD, PhD, BioFire (Consultant, Research Grant or Support)
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