Nursing home residents' experiences and perceptions of antibiotic use: A qualitative descriptive study

Background: Antibiotics are commonly used in the nursing home (NH) setting. Little is known of NH resi-dents' perceptions and experiences regarding antibiotic use.Methods: This was a qualitative descriptive study. We conducted individual, semi-structured interviews with NH residents. Interview transcripts were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Results: Twenty-six residents were interviewed. Four themes emerged: (1) perceived benefits and risks to antibiotics; (2) information needs regarding antibiotic treatment; (3) approaches to address information needs; and (4) resident involvement in antibiotic treatment decisions. The perceived benefits of antibiotics were described as symptom-relief and cure; risks included gastrointestinal symptoms and antibiotic resis-tance. Informational needs included the indication for antibiotics, risks and side-effects of antibiotics, and potential interactions between antibiotic treatments and medication regimens. Residents performed infor-mation seeking behaviors to address informational needs but described difficulty obtaining and recalling desired information. Diverse involvement in antibiotic treatment decisions were described, in which a subset of participants reported seeking antibiotics from their prescriber.Conclusions: Future efforts aiming to improve collaborative decision making and antibiotic use in the NH set-ting should address the unmet information needs of NH residents regarding their antibiotic treatment plans.& COPY; 2022 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.