Do primary care physicians underprescribe antibiotics for peptic ulcer disease? Report from an Italian research network.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how often primary care physicians prescribe eradication therapy for peptic ulcer disease (PUD) and nonulcer dyspepsia (NUD). STUDY DESIGN: During a 2-year period (1998-2000) we analyzed data concerning patients with PUD or NUD seen by 80 Italian primary care physicians uniformly distributed throughout the country. We classified patients as having a definitive or a presumptive diagnosis on the basis of the completeness of the diagnostic workup and interpreted the prescription of antibiotics for dyspepsia as evidence of attempted eradication of Helicobacter pylori. POPULATION: Consecutive ambulatory patients. OUTCOMES MEASURED: The frequency with which predefined groups of patients received eradication therapy. RESULTS: Of 6866 patients, 690 (10%) received eradication therapy. Of 2162 patients with PUD, 596 (27.6%) received eradication therapy; of 4704 patients with NUD, however, only 94 (2%) received this treatment (P =.0001). A total of 341 (37.7%) of 904 PUD patients with a definitive diagnosis were given eradication therapy and 255 (20.3%) of 1258 PUD patients with a presumptive diagnosis were given therapy (P <.0001). In NUD patients, 7 of 743 (0.9%) with a definitive diagnosis received eradication therapy, while 87 (2.2%) of 3961 of those with a presumptive diagnosis were given the same therapy (P =.025). CONCLUSIONS: While Italian primary care physicians appropriately target eradication therapy for H pylori infection in patients with peptic ulcer disease rather than nonulcer disease, the intervention was still underused in these patients. Improvements in this prescribing behavior are needed.