• Up-take of antibiotic prescription confirmed by pharmacists within 2 weeks following the initial consultation
  

• Patient satisfaction with consultation (on validated scale)
  
• patient enablement (on validated scale)
  
• days with restriction from ARTI within 14 days initial consultation
  
• side effects from medication
  
• re-consultation rates
  
• days off from work
  

Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI) constitute the most frequent reason for seeking ambulatory care and for the prescription of antibiotics, despite the mostly viral origin of ARTI. Antibiotic prescriptions for ARTI increase unnecessary drug expenditures and are the main reason for increasing drug resistance of common bacteria. Evidence from intervention studies shows that merely providing physicians with guidelines and educational material for the management of acute respiratory tract infections is not enough to reduce antibiotic prescriptions for these conditions. The main reasons for antibiotic prescription in ARTI are non-medical and related to the physician patient relationship, patients’ expectations and beliefs about the benefit of antibiotics. Therefore patient-centered communication could be a promising approach to reduce the rate of antibiotic prescription in ambulatory care.

Comparison: General practitioners (GPs) trained in patient-centered communication in addition to evidence-based guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of ARTI compared to GPs just introduced to evidence-based guidelines.