Choosing Wisely - Across Europe

Medical overactivity is a threat towards sustainable health care across the globe. The term “overactivity” encompasses overinvestigation, overdiagnosis and overtreatment: medical activity that do not benefit the patient and may potentially cause harm.

Use of antibiotics in children with airway infections that are likely caused by viruses is an important issue, with risks of unnecessary side effects at the individual level and fuelling antibiotic resistance at the global level. Prescription of antibiotics for children varies severalfold across Europe and indicates overtreatment in diverse settings.

Choosing Wisely is a global initiative which has also been taken into the European Academy of Paediatrics to spread awareness of the risks imposed by “too much medicine”. The presentation will give an overview of the topic, use examples relevant from clinical practice and share experiences from European countries working with Choosing Wisely within EAP.