Comparing Antibiotic Treatment Strategies for Children With Pneumonia in Outpatient Settings: (STAMPP)

Study Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if a "watch and wait" antibiotic strategy, called Safety Net Antibiotic Prescribing (SNAP), can safely reduce unnecessary antibiotic use while ensuring that children diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia get better from their illness. The main aims of this study are: * To compare the effectiveness of SNAP versus immediate antibiotic prescribing in children with mild community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) * To identify which patient groups benefit most from the SNAP strategy * To identify factors that shape implementation of each prescribing strategy. Researchers will compare the SNAP strategy (where parents or guardians are instructed to give antibiotics only if their child is not improving after 72 hours, or sooner if they are worsening) to the immediate antibiotic prescribing strategy (where parents or guardians are instructed to give the antibiotics right after their healthcare visit) to see if one strategy is more effective than the other. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the immediate antibiotic group or the SNAP group at enrollment. Participation lasts 14 days with follow-up surveys at 4, 7, and 14 days after enrollment.

Primary Outcome

Clinical improvement at 7 days after the index visit, defined as parent-reported (a) perception of overall improvement, (b) no worsening of fever, work of breathing, concerning changes in activity, or decreased oral intake, (c) no new antibiotic use or hospitalization following the index visit, and (d) improvement in at least one key pneumonia symptom in (b).

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• OTHER Immediate Antibiotic Prescribing Group Instructions
• OTHER Safety Net Antibiotic Prescribing (SNAP) Group Instructions

Study Locations (4)