Benchmarking antimicrobial drug use at university hospitals in five European countries

Abstract

A point-prevalence survey of five European university hospitals was performed to benchmark antimicrobial drug use in order to identify potential problem areas in prescribing practice and to aid in establishing appropriate and attainable goals. All inpatients at the university hospitals of Rijeka (Croatia), Tartu (Estonia), Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Karolinska-Huddinge (Sweden) were surveyed for antimicrobial drug use during a single day. The frequency of antimicrobial drug use was 24% in Rijeka, 30% in Tartu, 26% in Riga, 14% in Vilnius and 32% in Huddinge. Surgical patients were treated with antimicrobial agents more often than medical patients in Riga (53% vs. 31%), Tartu (39% vs. 26%) and Vilnius (54% vs. 25%). Two-thirds of patients in Rijeka, Tartu, Riga and Vilnius, and fewer than half of the patients in Huddinge, received antimicrobial agents intravenously. Broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents were used most commonly in Rijeka. The prevalence of nosocomial infections treated with antibiotics was 9% at Huddinge, and 3-5% at the other centres. Benchmarking antimicrobial drug use at five university hospitals identified differences and problem areas. The high rates of intravenous administration, poor compliance with guidelines, and prolonged surgical prophylaxis were general problems that deserved specific attention at all centres. A change in prescription practices may reduce unnecessary drug use and decrease antimicrobial resistance.

Point prevalence study of antibiotic use in hospitals in Butembo

“…This Shows a high use of antibiotics after emergence of proven or assumed bacterial infections. These results confirmed the conclusion of previous studies (Vlahović-Palcevski et al, 2007;N'diaye, 2003), but they are higher compared to the results obtained by other studies (Zarb et al, 2011;Robert et al, 2012;Toure et al, 1997). The high use of antibiotics might increase the risk of bacterial resistance to some antibiotics; however, it is important to note that the difference between the prevalence found in this study and in previous studies does not necessarily indicate that there is inappropriate use of antibiotics where prevalence is high.…”

Point prevalence survey on antibiotic use in a Croatian Infectious Disease Hospital

“…Like in other reported studies no statistically significant differences by sex were noted 15,16,17,19,28 . A higher proportion of patients on antibiotics was recorded among adult (65%) than among paediatric (37.5%) patients which suggests that childhood viral infections are more common reason for admission to hospital than bacterial infections.…”

“…One of the frequently used surveillance methods for internal quality control in antibiotic prescribing is a point prevalence survey (PPS) of antibiotic use in hospitals. It is used to evaluate the prevalence of antibiotic use and the appropriateness of antibiotic therapy 14,15,16,17,18,19 .…”

A study of antibiotic prescribing: the experience of Lithuanian and Russian GPs

“…However, very little research has investigated the links between antibiotic prescribing practices and non-clinical factors in post-Soviet countries. Studies performed in Lithuania and Russia have primarily addressed the antibiotic use profile [27][28][29][30], the relationship between antibiotic use and bacterial resistance [31,32], and public beliefs and knowledge about antibiotic use and self-medication [33,34]. To our knowledge, no qualitative studies addressing the non-clinical factors of antibiotic prescribing have been performed in Central and Eastern Europe.…”