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Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?

BACKGROUND: Little is known about how pediatricians or internists manage influenza symptoms. Recent guidelines on antiviral prescribing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) make almost no distinction between adults and children. Our objective was to describe how pediatricians in t...

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Autores principales: Rothberg, Michael B, Bonner, Aleta B, Rajab, MH, Stechenberg, Barbara W, Rose, David N
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2375866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18435850
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2431-8-15
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author Rothberg, Michael B
Bonner, Aleta B
Rajab, MH
Stechenberg, Barbara W
Rose, David N
author_facet Rothberg, Michael B
Bonner, Aleta B
Rajab, MH
Stechenberg, Barbara W
Rose, David N
author_sort Rothberg, Michael B
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Little is known about how pediatricians or internists manage influenza symptoms. Recent guidelines on antiviral prescribing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) make almost no distinction between adults and children. Our objective was to describe how pediatricians in two large academic medical institutions manage influenza and compare them to internists. METHODS: At the end of the 2003–4 influenza season, we conducted a cross sectional on-line survey of physician knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding rapid diagnostic testing and use of antiviral therapy for influenza at two large academic medical centers, one in Massachusetts and the other in Texas. We collected data on self-reported demographics, test use, prescribing practices, and beliefs about influenza and anti-influenza drugs. RESULTS: A total of 107 pediatricians and 103 internists completed the survey (response rate of 53%). Compared to internists, pediatricians were more likely to perform rapid testing (74% vs. 47%, p < 0.0001), to use amantadine (88% vs. 48%, p < 0.0001), to restrict their prescribing to high-risk patients (86% vs. 53%, p < 0.0001), and to believe that antiviral therapy could decrease mortality (38% vs. 22%, p = 0.01). Other beliefs about antiviral therapy did not differ statistically between the specialties. Internists were more likely to be unfamiliar with rapid testing or not to have it available. CONCLUSION: Pediatricians and internists manage influenza differently. Evidence-based guidelines addressing the specific concerns of each group would be helpful.
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spelling pubmed-23758662008-05-10 Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists? Rothberg, Michael B Bonner, Aleta B Rajab, MH Stechenberg, Barbara W Rose, David N BMC Pediatr Research Article BACKGROUND: Little is known about how pediatricians or internists manage influenza symptoms. Recent guidelines on antiviral prescribing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) make almost no distinction between adults and children. Our objective was to describe how pediatricians in two large academic medical institutions manage influenza and compare them to internists. METHODS: At the end of the 2003–4 influenza season, we conducted a cross sectional on-line survey of physician knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding rapid diagnostic testing and use of antiviral therapy for influenza at two large academic medical centers, one in Massachusetts and the other in Texas. We collected data on self-reported demographics, test use, prescribing practices, and beliefs about influenza and anti-influenza drugs. RESULTS: A total of 107 pediatricians and 103 internists completed the survey (response rate of 53%). Compared to internists, pediatricians were more likely to perform rapid testing (74% vs. 47%, p < 0.0001), to use amantadine (88% vs. 48%, p < 0.0001), to restrict their prescribing to high-risk patients (86% vs. 53%, p < 0.0001), and to believe that antiviral therapy could decrease mortality (38% vs. 22%, p = 0.01). Other beliefs about antiviral therapy did not differ statistically between the specialties. Internists were more likely to be unfamiliar with rapid testing or not to have it available. CONCLUSION: Pediatricians and internists manage influenza differently. Evidence-based guidelines addressing the specific concerns of each group would be helpful. BioMed Central 2008-04-24 /pmc/articles/PMC2375866/ /pubmed/18435850 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2431-8-15 Text en Copyright © 2008 Rothberg et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Rothberg, Michael B
Bonner, Aleta B
Rajab, MH
Stechenberg, Barbara W
Rose, David N
Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?
title Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?
title_full Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?
title_fullStr Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?
title_full_unstemmed Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?
title_short Do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?
title_sort do pediatricians manage influenza differently than internists?
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2375866/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18435850
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2431-8-15
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