Khursheed N, Ahsan Q, Rattani S, Fatima M, Raza A, Tariq S, Mustafa T, Ahmed K, Iqbal S, Zulfiqar S, Ahmed SM, Fatima G, Akbar Khan S, Ullah F, Ahmed RA, Jamal S. Point prevalence probing of antimicrobial prescription patterns from a developing country.
Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 2023:1-8. [PMID:
37712527 DOI:
10.1080/14787210.2023.2259098]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Irrational use of antibiotics intensifies resistance and jeopardizes advances made in modern medicine. We aimed to conduct a baseline gap analysis survey on antibiotic prescription practices across Pakistan.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
This multi-centered cross-sectional survey was conducted at six public sector tertiary care hospitals from February 2021 to March 2021. Data related to various variables including hospital infrastructure, policies and practices, monitoring and feedback, and epidemiological, clinical, and antibiotic prescription for surveyed patients was collected using World Health Organization (WHO) Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) methodology.
RESULTS
In a survey of 837 inpatients, 78.5% were prescribed antibiotics. Most commonly prescribed antimicrobial was ceftriaxone (21.7%), followed by metronidazole (17.3%), cefoperazone-sulbactam (8.4%), amoxicillin-clavulanate (6.3%), and piperacillin/tazobactam (5.9%). Surgical prophylaxis (36.7%) and community-acquired infections (24.7%) were the main reasons for antibiotic prescriptions. Single antibiotics were given to 46.7% of patients, 39.9% received a combination of two antibiotics, and 12.5% were prescribed three or more antibiotics. Among six hospitals surveyed, two had drug and therapeutic committees, three had infection prevention and control committees, and one had an antibiotic formulary.
CONCLUSION
Findings demonstrate high consumption of broad-spectrum antimicrobials and emphasize the importance of expanding antimicrobial stewardship programs among hospitals. Mentoring clinical teams could help rationalize antimicrobial use.
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