“It's safer to …” parent consulting and clinician antibiotic prescribing decisions for children with respiratory tract infections: An analysis across four qualitative studies

Publication date: July 2015 Source:Social Science & Medicine, Volumes 136–137 Author(s): Christie Cabral , Patricia J. Lucas , Jenny Ingram , Alastair D. Hay , Jeremy Horwood This paper reports a cross-study analysis of four studies, aiming to understand the drivers of parental consulting and clinician prescribing behaviour when children under 12 years consult primary care with acute respiratory tract infections (RTI). Qualitative data were obtained from three primary studies and one systematic review. Purposeful samples were obtained for (i) a focus group study of parents' information needs and help seeking; (ii) an interview study of parents' experiences of primary health care (60 parents in total); and (iii) an interview study of clinicians' experiences of RTI consultations for children (28 clinicians). The systematic review synthesised parent and clinician views of prescribing for children with acute illness. Reoccurring themes and common patterns across the whole data set were noted. Through an iterative approach involving re-examination of the primary data, translation of common themes across all the studies and re-organisation of these themes into conceptual groups, four overarching themes were identified. These were: the perceived vulnerability of children; seeking safety in the face of uncertainty; seeking safety from social disapproval; and experience and perception of safety. The social construction of children as vulnerable and normative beliefs...
Source: Social Science and Medicine - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research