Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing is common in ambulatory care settings, particularly urgent care, according to a JAMA Internal Medicine research letter.

Using an outpatient claims database, researchers tracked antibiotic prescriptions in various outpatient settings. Visits for antibiotic-inappropriate respiratory illness (e.g., suspected viral upper respiratory infection or pneumonia, bronchitis or bronchiolitis, asthma or allergy, influenza, nonsuppurative otitis media) made up roughly 17% of retail clinic and urgent care visits and roughly 6% of medical office and emergency department visits. Of those diagnosed with an antibiotic-inappropriate respiratory illness, here were the proportions prescribed antibiotics:

Commentators note: “Unlike patients seen at an outpatient practice, those who go to an urgent care center are unlikely to see their regular physician or a member of their physician’s team. Primary care physicians may be in a better position than an unfamiliar clinician to convince patients that it is not in their interest to take an antibiotic.”