Building context-specific evidence to fight antimicrobial resistance: the role of Family Medicine research.

Abstract

The health and economic burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global concern. One of the main causes of AMR is the overuse of antibiotics and Italy has higher rates of consumption of these drugs, as well as of AMR, if compared to many other European countries. To foster a more appropriate use of these drugs, initiatives that involve physicians and other healthcare professionals, citizens and institutions are urgently needed. This editorial will present a research project that aims to describe a multifaceted educational intervention structured in lessons, case based learning, consultation mapping and interactive virtual classes, and tailored to the learning needs of physicians, as revealed by the collection of their answers to a knowledge and attitudes questionnaire on antibiotic prescriptions and resistance. These kind of collaborative, non-profit, multi-professional and inter-institutional research projects are urgently needed in Italy, especially in the primary care sector, to produce the context-specific evidence necessary to bridge the gap, on the one hand, between experimental evidence and everyday practice of Family Physicians and, on the other hand, between past and future of General Practice in Italy.