Knowledge and Practice Discordance in Treating Urinary Tract Infections

Overview

Journal PRiMER

Specialty Medical Education

Date 2020 Aug 21

PMID 32818198

Authors

David W Bauer

Julie Adkison

Heather Hamilton

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background And Objectives: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common condition in women. Guidelines have been published on the diagnosis and management of such infections with the twin goals of improved patient safety and avoiding unnecessary health care costs. In this study we evaluated both physicians' knowledge of these guidelines, and whether that knowledge translates to their clinical practice.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of UTI management before and after an educational intervention in a family medicine residency. Two control sites were also included. We also assessed physicians' knowledge of current UTI management guidelines using an anonymous quiz.

Results: At the intervention site, guideline adherence improved following the educational session. Inappropriate culture use decreased from 88% to 68% (<.005) while first-line antibiotic use increased from 68% to 92% (<.005). No such benefits were seen at the control sites. The control and intervention site providers did not differ in knowledge of antibiotic choice on the quiz (86% and 88% correct respectively, =.85), but all control providers felt routine cultures were appropriate, whereas only 38% of the intervention providers did (<.05).

Conclusions: A simple educational intervention made an impact on the management of UTI. Our results also highlighted that knowledge and practice are not always aligned.

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