Are short courses of antibiotics as effective as longer courses for common outpatient infections?

Just about every time someone asks "Can I get away with a shorter course of antibiotics," the answer is "Yes, you can." Shorter courses reduce cost, and may reduce the likelihood of adverse events. (LOE = 1a)

Dawson-Hahn EE, Mickan S, Onakpoya I, et al. Short-course versus long-course oral antibiotic treatment for infections treated in outpatient settings: a review of systematic reviews. Fam Pract 2017;34(5):511-519.  [PMID:28486675]

Meta-analysis (randomized controlled trials)

Government

Various (meta-analysis)

This is a relatively new kind of study: a systematic review of systematic reviews, also called a systematic overview. The authors searched 5 databases and identified 9 systematic reviews that compared the duration of antibiotic therapies for a common outpatient infection. The reviews included between 2 studies and 17 studies, with a total of between 395 and 5763 patients. The best studied conditions were urinary tract infection (UTI), sinusitis, and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The authors found that, in children, 5 to 7 days was as good as 10 days for strep pharyngitis; 3 days was as good as 5 days for CAP; more than 2 days was as good as 7 or more days for otitis media, and 2 to 4 days was as good as 7 to 14 days for UTI. In adults, 3 to 7 days was as good as 6 to 10 days for acute bacterial sinusitis, 3 days was as good as 5 or more days for uncomplicated UTI in nonpregnant women, and 7 to 14 days was as good as 14 to 42 days for acute pyelonephritis. The authors also found that 7 or fewer days was as good as more than 7 days for CAP, and 3 to 6 days was as effective as 7 to 14 days for UTI in older women. There was some evidence that shorter courses resulted in fewer adverse events when treating acute otitis media in children and acute sinusitis in adults.