Antibiotic Prescribing by Physicians Versus Nurse Practitioners for Pediatric Upper Respiratory Infections

Background:This study investigates differences in antibiotic prescribing rates for pediatric upper respiratory infections (URIs) between physicians and nurse practitioners (NPs).Methods:Visits by children <18 years old diagnosed with URI to physicians or NPs between 2001 and 2010 were abstracted from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey. Logistic regression analyses examined variations in antibiotic prescribing rates.Results:Upper respiratory infections accounted for approximately 439 ± 21.5 million visits. Patients seen by NPs were more likely to have Medicaid, live in the lowest median household income quartile zip codes and micropolitan locations, and live in the South compared to patients seen by physicians. Nurse practitioners prescribed antibiotics 66.7% ± 4.2% of the time versus physicians at 52.8% ± 0.8% for URI visits (unadjusted P-value = .002). Adjusted by specialty, URI type, and chronic diseases, NPs had marginally significantly different od...