Do general practitioners adhere to the guideline on infectious conjunctivitis? Results of the Second Dutch National Survey of General Practice.
Do general practitioners adhere to the guideline on infectious conjunctivitis? Results of the Second Dutch National Survey of General Practice.
BMC Fam Pract. 2007 Sep 16;8(1):54
Authors: Rietveld RP, Ter Riet G, Bindels PJ, Schellevis FG, van Weert HC
ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: In 1996 the guideline The Red Eye of the Dutch College of General Practitioners was published. It is unclear to which extent general practitioners adhere to this guideline. Recently, data on the management of infectious conjunctivitis by general practitioners came available by the Second Dutch National Survey of General Practice. We measured the age-specific incidence of infectious conjunctivitis. We described its management by Dutch general practitioners and put these data into the perspective of the recommendations made in the guideline. METHODS: In 2001 , over a 12 months period, data of all patient contacts with 195 general practitioners were derived from electronic medical records. Registration was episode-oriented; all consultations dealing with the same health problem were grouped into disease episodes. Data of all episodes of infectious conjunctivitis (ICPC-code F70 and sub codes) were analysed. RESULTS: During one year, 5,213 new and repeating episodes of infectious conjunctivitis were presented to their general practitioner in a population of N=375,899, resulting in an overall incidence rate of 13.9 per 1000 person-years, varying from more than 80/1000 py in up to one-year olds, to less than 12/1000 py after the age of 4. Topical ophthalmic ointments were prescribed in 87% of the episodes, of which 80% was antibiotic treatment. Fusidic acid gel was most frequently prescribed (69%). General practitioners do not adhere to the guideline in most episodes. DISCUSSION: In 2001, management of infectious conjunctivitis by Dutch general practitioners was not according to a 5-years previously published consensus-based and well distributed guideline. In 2006 this guideline was revised. Its successful implementation requires more than distribution alone. Probably the most effective way to achieve this is by following a model for systemic implementation.
PMID: 17868475 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
]]>