Loading
Life sciences · Journal article
The European Journal of General Practice · September 11, 2026
No summary has been generated for this record yet. What follows is drawn from its source metadata only.
Journal article.
No findings were extractable from the material analysed.
Safety was not reported in the material analysed. Check the source before drawing any conclusion about harm.
The source did not state who this applies to in practice.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
This record has not been graded across any dimension yet. Treat the label above as provisional and read the source.
What is missing. This record has no bottom line, key findings, reported figures, evidence dimensions. That is a gap in the analysis, not a judgement about the study.
Background. Acute otitis media (AOM) is a leading cause of primary care visits and antibiotic prescriptions in children. Diagnostic uncertainty and variability in management contribute to misdiagnosis and inappropriate antibiotic use.Objective. This study examines how primary care physicians across countries diagnose and manage suspected AOM through clinical cases.Methods. International cross-sectional survey using structured clinical cases with validated tympanic membrane images. The survey was administered during professional meetings for primary care physicians in 12 countries (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States).Results. A total of 1,365 primary care physicians participated. Across all responses to AOM cases, 60% were correctly diagnosed as AOM, while only 31% of responses involving a normal tympanic membrane were correctly identified. Antibiotic prescribing varied substantially across countries and between cases. Multivariable regression analyses showed that diagnostic accuracy was a significant predictor of antibiotic prescribing. Physicians who correctly identified a normal tympanic membrane were significantly less likely to prescribe antibiotics (p < 0.001). Notable differences in prescribing patterns were evident between countries.Conclusion. Diagnostic accuracy for suspected AOM was generally low among primary care physicians, with wide variation across countries. Antibiotics were frequently prescribed even in the absence of AOM. This underscores the need for improved diagnostic education to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use globally.