{"id":23030,"date":"2025-11-27T16:00:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T21:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/?post_type=journal_article&#038;p=23030"},"modified":"2025-12-16T16:04:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T21:04:33","slug":"impact-of-community-pharmacist-antibiotic-prescribing-for-minor-ailments","status":"publish","type":"journal_article","link":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/fr\/publications\/journal-articles\/impact-of-community-pharmacist-antibiotic-prescribing-for-minor-ailments\/","title":{"rendered":"Impact of community pharmacist antibiotic prescribing for minor ailments: an interrupted time series analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Objective<\/strong> \u2014 On 1 January 2023, Ontario expanded pharmacists\u2019 scope of practice, allowing them to prescribe medications for 13 minor ailments, including antibiotics for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) and Lyme disease (LD) prophylaxis. This study evaluates pharmacist billing claims and pharmacist and physician antibiotic-prescribing rates before and after policy implementation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Design<\/strong> \u2014 An interrupted time series analysis measuring changes in prescribing trends post-implementation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Setting<\/strong> \u2014 This retrospective study analysed visit claims and antibiotic prescribing for UTIs and LD prophylaxis before policy implementation (2022) and after (2023\u20132024) in Ontario.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Participants<\/strong> \u2014 Data from Ontarians<\/p>\n<p><strong>Primary outcome measures<\/strong> \u2014 Prescribing rates were standardised per 1000 inhabitants, stratified by provider type, patient age and sex, and antibiotic type.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results<\/strong> \u2014 In 2023 and 2024, pharmacists submitted over 1.47\u2009million minor ailment claims, with UTIs making up 34.2% and LD prophylaxis making up 2.6% of total claims. UTI claims were primarily for women aged 25\u201364, and LD prophylaxis peaked in spring and fall. Pharmacist prescribing of eligible urinary drugs in females increased by 33.3 per 1000 person-years (95%\u2009CI 30.8 to 36.6) while physician prescribing decreased by 23.3 (95% CI \u221232.2 to \u221215.3), leading to a modest net increase of 10.1 (95% CI 0.0 to 18.7). Pharmacist prescribing of doxycycline was offset by decreased physician prescribing, resulting in no change (0.0, 95%\u2009CI \u22121.0 to 0.9). Pharmacist prescribing for other antibiotics was low over the study timeframe, while physician prescribing increased, which was driven by increased prescribing of penicillins and macrolides.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion<\/strong> \u2014 There was a clear increase in pharmacist prescribing for eligible drugs in the eligible population post-policy implementation. Pharmacists in Ontario appear to be prescribing within policy limits for uncomplicated UTIs and LD prophylaxis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Objective \u2014 On 1 January 2023, Ontario expanded pharmacists\u2019 scope of practice, allowing them to prescribe medications for 13 minor ailments, including antibiotics for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) and Lyme disease (LD) prophylaxis. This study evaluates pharmacist billing claims and pharmacist and physician antibiotic-prescribing rates before and after policy implementation. Design \u2014 An interrupted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","migration-helper-automated":[],"migration-manual":[],"topic":[56,31],"migration-helper-qa-sample-set":[],"class_list":["post-23030","journal_article","type-journal_article","status-publish","hentry","topic-pharmacoepidemiology-and-drug-safety","topic-pharmacy"],"acf":{"citation":"Leung V, Langford B, Brown KA, Ghahramani D, Hoang J, Oberai A, Tadrous M, Daneman N, Saqib K, Schwartz K. <em>BMJ Open<\/em>. 2025; 15(11): e107109.","source_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-107109","ices_scientist":[1181,1108,1215,1347],"site":[6735],"research_program":[6746],"news_release":"","journal_article":"","atlas":"","research_report":"","infographic":"","video":"","downloads":null,"links":null,"sitecore_item_id":"","sitecore_item_name":"","sitecore_field_values":"","previous_url":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - 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