Preferences for Prophylactic Oral Antibiotic Use in Dermatologic Surgery: A Multicenter Discrete Choice Experiment

Background: Antibiotics are often prescribed after dermatologic surgery for infection prophylaxis, but patient preferences about prophylactic antibiotics are not well understood.

Objective: To understand patient preferences about taking antibiotics to prevent surgical site infection (SSI) relative to antibiotic efficacy and antibiotic-associated adverse drug reactions.

Materials and methods: Multi-center, prospective discrete choice experiment (DCE).

Results: Three hundred thirty-eight respondents completed the survey and DCE. 54.8% of respondents preferred to take an antibiotic if it reduced the SSI rate from 5% to 2.5% and if the risk of adverse drug reactions was low (1% risk gastrointestinal upset, 0.5% risk itchy skin rash, 0.01% risk emergency department visit). Even if an antibiotic could eliminate SSI risk (0% risk SSI) and had a low adverse drug reaction profile, 26.7% of respondents prefer not to take prophylactic oral antibiotics.

Conclusion: Risk-benefit thresholds for taking antibiotics to prevent SSI vary widely. Clinical trials are needed to better characterize the effectiveness and risks of oral antibiotic SSI prophylaxis to guide decision-making. Future studies should also evaluate whether shared decision-making can improve the patient experience.