Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Prof Christopher Butler
ORCID ID
Contact details
Dept of General Practice
Cardiff University
3rd Floor Neuadd Merionnyd
Healh Park
Cardiff
CF14 4XN
United Kingdom
butlercc@cf.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
G0500956
Study information
Scientific title
Acronym
STAR
Study hypothesis
To examine if exposing prescribers in general practices to the STAR Educational Programme results in fewer antibiotics being dispensed to the practice's patients.
Ethics approval
Not provided at time of registration
Study design
Cluster-randomised trial with randomisation and analysis at the level of general practice/general practitioner.
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
GP practices
Trial type
Treatment
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Condition
Infections
Intervention
Clinicians in practices randomised to the experimential condition will be exposed to the STAR Educational Program. This involves unique use of practices' own prescribing and resistance data and novel consulting strategies. Both the 'why' and 'how' of change will be addressed. Training methods will include: seminars, software supported, self-directed learning, and reflecting on video and actual consultations.
Control practices will be offered the intervention after the initial one year follow-up of the experimental practices is complete.
Intervention type
Drug
Phase
Not Specified
Drug names
Oral Antibiotics
Primary outcome measure
Change in the total number of dispensed oral antibiotics (with examination of trend by quarter) per 1000 registered patients, for the year subsequent to the practice being exposed to the STAR programme, compared to the previous year, using PARC data.
Secondary outcome measures
Not provided at time of registration
Overall trial start date
01/06/2006
Overall trial end date
30/11/2009
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
There are no inclusion or exclusion criteria, other than that we aim for two thirds of prescribers in each practice must agree to take part in the study. Practices will be approached at random and randomised in a way that balances for practice size and prior antibiotic prescribing.
Participant type
Patient
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
Up to 60 practices (approximately 140-180 clinicians)
Participant exclusion criteria
N/A
Recruitment start date
01/06/2006
Recruitment end date
30/11/2009
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Dept of General Practice
Cardiff
CF14 4XN
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
Cardiff University (UK)
Sponsor details
Heath Park
Cardiff
CF14 4XN
United Kingdom
davieskp2@cf.ac.uk
Sponsor type
University/education
Website
Funders
Funder type
Research council
Funder name
Medical Research Council (MRC)(ref. no: G0500956) (UK)
Alternative name(s)
MRC
Funding Body Type
government organisation
Funding Body Subtype
National government
Location
United Kingdom
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
1. 2010 results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20459655
2. 2012 results in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22302780
Publication citations
-
Results
Bekkers MJ, Simpson SA, Dunstan F, Hood K, Hare M, Evans J, Butler CC, , Enhancing the quality of antibiotic prescribing in primary care: qualitative evaluation of a blended learning intervention., BMC Fam Pract, 2010, 11, 34, doi: 10.1186/1471-2296-11-34.
-
Results
Butler CC, Simpson SA, Dunstan F, Rollnick S, Cohen D, Gillespie D, Evans MR, Alam MF, Bekkers MJ, Evans J, Moore L, Howe R, Hayes J, Hare M, Hood K, Effectiveness of multifaceted educational programme to reduce antibiotic dispensing in primary care: practice based randomised controlled trial., BMJ, 2012, 344, d8173.