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Biomedical subjects

J G Howie

Publications and source records attributed to J G Howie.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Some non-bacteriological determinants and implications of antibiotic use in upper respiratory tract illness.

Antibiotics are widely but inconsistently used by general practitioners in the UK for treatment of respiratory infections. Although it might be expected that antibiotic use would be governed by biomedical factors this is often not the case. Four non-bacteriological determinants of antibiotic use are identified and discussed; these are (i) the doctor's anxiety about his workload, (ii) the response of doctors to social pressures, (iii) misinterpretation of underlying reasons for a consultation and (iv) fear of the possible development of sequels to streptococcal illness. The implications of the variable response of doctors to these influences are discussed. These apply, not only to doctors and patients, but also to relationships between them. In addition there are important implications for the credibility of general practice as a critical and academically respectable discipline.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Antibiotics, sore throats and acute nephritis.

A study was carried out of 274 children in Scotland aged 0 to 13 years recorded as having had acute nephritis over a four-year period (1976-79). The medical records for 223 of the patients were examined and 79 cases of poststreptococcal nephritis were identified, giving an estimated incidence of 2.1 episodes per 100,000 children per year. Using a number of assumptions, the authors sought the answers to two important questions: What is the risk that glomerulonephritis will develop after sore throat/inflamed throat illness? Is this risk influenced by the prescribing of an antibiotic for the original illness?The risks of developing nephritis after an antibiotic-treated sore throat and after a non-antibiotic treated sore throat were assessed as being equivalent (1:13,000 and 1:17,000 respectively). Furthermore, it appears that, during his lifetime, a general practitioner has a chance of only one in six of seeing a child with post-streptococcal nephritis after a sore throat.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1982

Consultation behaviour and the influence of the media.

Consultations by patients requesting influenza vaccinations were monitored in nine group practices before and after a radio broadcast encouraging patients at risk to seek vaccination. In a population of over 88,000 patients 88 consulted about influenza vaccination prior to the broadcast and 52 after. Not one consulted for vaccination as a result of the broadcast. The implications of this are discussed.

Health Education↗
PubMed1980

Family trends in psychotropic and antibiotic prescribing in general practice.

A ten-year retrospective study of the consultations of 50 families with a city general practice was used to test the hypothesis that mothers who receive an excess of psychotropic drugs have children who receive an excess of antibiotics for episodes of acute respiratory illness. The children of the 10 mothers classed as high psychotropic users were seen twice as often with acute respiratory illness and received twice as many antibiotics as the children of the mothers who had received no psychotropic medication. The association between high psychotropic and high antibiotic use was not linked in time, and indeed the time of highest antibiotic use coincided with the time when the mother received fewest psychotropic prescriptions. It is suggested that at many of these consultations the mother rather than the child should have been treated as the patient.

Adult↗