The main sources of resource use information were the case report form (CRF) completed by primary care physicians, and a diary completed by patients. Resource use data were collected concerning:
How this fits in
The use of antibiotics for treatment of acute cough/lower respiratory tract infections increases antibiotic resistance. Economic evaluations assessing the use of antibiotics tend to focus on immediate costs of care, and do not account for the wider implications and costs of antimicrobial resistance because of uncertainty, intangibility of these costs, and the difficulty in accurate estimation. This study has shown that economic evaluations of interventions such as antibiotic prescribing may result in misleading conclusions if antibiotic resistance is not accounted for. Future research should focus on how best these costs should be accounted for.