Shorter antibiotic courses are often recommended to avoid antibiotic overuse and resistance. However, the observation study found no difference in antibiotic-related harms between short courses (three to seven days) and long courses (eight to 14 days).
Researchers analyzed 2018 administrative health data from 117,682 outpatients aged 66 to 110 years. They compared how prescriptions for amoxicillin, cephalexin and ciprofloxacin affected adverse reactions, Clostridioides difficile infections, antibiotic resistance, repeat antibiotic prescriptions, hospital visit rates and mortality rates.
Across all three antibiotics, longer courses were not associated with any of these outcomes.
Other studies have found the opposite result, but those often focus on hospitalized patients rather than outpatients, the researchers said.
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