Antibiotic Prescribing for Acute Respiratory Illnesses in Persons With HIV Compared With Persons Without HIV

Abstract

Background Antibiotic overuse increases healthcare cost and promotes antimicrobial resistance. People with HIV (PWH) who develop acute respiratory infections (ARI) may be assumed “higher risk,” compared with non-PWH, but comparative antibiotic use evaluations have not been performed. Methods This observational, single-center study compared antibiotic prescribing in independent clinical encounters for PWH and non-PWH diagnosed with ARI in outpatient clinical practices using ICD 10 codes between January 1, 2014 and April 30, 2018. Fisher’s exact test compared categorical variables with antibiotic prescribing patterns. Results There were 209 patients in the PWH cohort vs. 398 patients in the non-PWH cohort. PWH had median CD4+ count of 610 cells/mm3 with 91% on antiretroviral therapy and 78% were virally suppressed. Thirty-seven percent of all visits resulted in an antibiotic prescription, 89% were inappropriate. Antibiotics were prescribed more frequently in non-PWH (35% PWH vs. 40% non-PWH; p 0.172) and managed according to guidelines more often in PWH (37% PWH vs. 30% non-PWH; p 0.039). Antibiotics were prescribed appropriately most frequently in PWH managed by HIV clinicians (29% PWH managed by HIV clinician vs. 12% PWH managed by non-HIV clinician vs. 8% non-PWH p 0.010). HIV clinicians prescribed antibiotics for a mean duration of 5.9 days vs. PWH managed by a non-HIV clinician for 9.1 days vs. non-PWH for 7.6 days (p <0.0001). Conclusion Outpatient antibiotic overuse remains prevalent among patients evaluated for ARI. We found less frequent inappropriate antibiotic use in PWH. Prescriber specialty, rather than HIV diagnosis, was related to appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing.