A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center suggests many patients with acute conjunctivitis are getting the wrong treatment.
Researchers reportedly analyzed data from about 300,000 patients diagnosed with acute conjunctivitis over a 14-year period. They reportedly found about 60 percent were prescribed antibiotic eyedrops, even though antibiotics are rarely necessary to treat this common eye infection. And about 20 percent received an antibiotic-steroid eyedrop that can reportedly prolong or worsen the infection.
Additionally, investigators reportedly found the odds of filling a prescription depended more on a patient's socioeconomic status than the patient's risk for developing a more serious eye infection. And they also reportedly found primary care providers diagnosed the majority of patients (83 percent), and only a minority were diagnosed by eye care providers.
The study was recently published in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
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Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology