Does short-course antibiotic therapy better meet patient expectations?

A pan-European market research study of 3254 patients designed to determine patient attitudes, expectations and behaviour to antibiotic management of mild-moderate RTIs, identified three key drivers of perceived antibiotic efficacy: length of antibiotic course, time to onset of symptom relief and time to complete resolution of symptoms. Azithromycin was selected as 'drug therapy of shortest dosage schedule' for common outpatient infections. The results demonstrate that once-daily, short-course treatment is perceived to be significantly more effective than longer antibiotic courses and thus, better meets patient expectations of therapy. This perception of efficacy with short-course therapy also correlates with overall satisfaction with management by the physician and compliance with therapy. These findings have important implications for the way physicians manage patients with mild-moderate RTIs. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.