Shorter antibiotics for children's ear infections
Official title: RELAX: Reducing Length of Antibiotics For Children With Ear Infections
Funded at Ihc Health Services, INC. · NIH-11195582 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This compares two simple clinic approaches to help doctors prescribe shorter antibiotic courses for children with ear infections.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ihc Health Services, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Murray, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 30, 2022 |
| Project end | September 29, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $429,305 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HS029153-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11195582 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children aged 2 years and older with non-severe acute otitis media seen at participating clinics are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
Infants under 2 years, children with severe or complicated ear infections, or those who need longer antibiotic courses would likely not benefit from these shorter-duration strategies.
What this research studies
This project tests two low-cost ways clinics can encourage 5–7 day antibiotic courses (instead of 10 days) for children aged 2 years and older with uncomplicated ear infections. One approach adds clinician education plus individualized audit-and-feedback with peer comparison and EHR prescription changes, while the other uses only EHR prescription changes. Researchers will track how often recommended short courses are prescribed, monitor return visits and side effects, and measure how easily each approach can be put into routine practice. The aim is to find an effective, low-resource method that reduces unnecessary antibiotic exposure.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could reduce unnecessary antibiotic days, lowering side effects and helping slow antibiotic resistance in children.
How similar studies have gone: Randomized trials and national guidelines already support 5–7 day courses for most children ≥2 years, and a prior pilot showed marked increases in short-duration prescribing using these intervention types.
Where this research is happening
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Ihc Health Services, INC.
Murray, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Frost, Holly — Ihc Health Services, INC.
- Study coordinator: Frost, Holly
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.