A Choosing Wisely top-5 list to support general practitioners in Austria

Abstract

From a pool of 147 reliable recommendations, ten experts from the Austrian Society of General Practice and Family Medicine selected 21 relevant recommendations as the basis for the Delphi process. In two Delphi rounds, eleven experts established a top‑5 list of recommendations designed for Austrian family practice to reduce medical overuse. Three of the chosen recommendations address the issue of antibiotic usage in patients with viral upper respiratory tract infections, in children with mild otitis media, and in patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria. The other two “do not do” recommendations concern imaging studies for nonspecific low back pain and routine screening to detect prostate cancer. A subsequent survey identified the reasons for selecting these top‑5 recommendations: the frequency of the issue, potential harms, costs, and patients’ expectations. Experts hope the campaign will save time in educating patients and provide legal protection for omitting measures.