Antimicrobial prescribing in a secondary care setting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Resource Type
- Academic Journal
- Authors
- Tadros MM; School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.; Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST University), P.O. Box 12566, Giza, Egypt.; Boshra MS; Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beni-Suef University, P.O. Box 62514, Beni-Suef, Egypt.; Scott M; Medicines Optimisation and Innovation Centre (MOIC), Antrim Area Hospital, Antrim, UK.; Fleming G; Medicines Optimisation and Innovation Centre (MOIC), Antrim Area Hospital, Antrim, UK.; Magee F; Pharmacy Department, Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NHSCT), Antrim, UK.; Hamed MI; Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST University), P.O. Box 12566, Giza, Egypt.; Abuelhana A; School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.; Courtenay A; School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK.; Salem HF; Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beni-Suef University, P.O. Box 62514, Beni-Suef, Egypt.; Burnett K; Regional Pharmaceutical Procurement Service, Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NHSCT), Antrim, UK.
- Source
- Publisher: Oxford University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101765283 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2632-1823 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 26321823 NLM ISO Abbreviation: JAC Antimicrob Resist Subsets: PubMed not MEDLINE
- Subject
- Language
- English
Background: Increased antimicrobial resistance patterns lead to limited options for antimicrobial agents, affecting patient health and increasing hospital costs.
Objectives: To investigate the antimicrobial prescribing patterns at two district hospitals in Northern Ireland before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A mixed prospective-retrospective study was designed to compare pre- and during pandemic antimicrobial prescribing data in both hospitals using a Global Point Prevalence Survey.
Results: Of the 591 patients surveyed in both hospitals, 43.8% were treated with 402 antimicrobials. A total of 82.8% of antimicrobial prescriptions were for empirical treatment. No significant difference existed in numbers of patients treated or antimicrobials used before and during the pandemic. There was a slight decrease of 3.3% in the compliance rate with hospital antimicrobial guidelines during the pandemic when compared with the pre-pandemic year of 2019, when it was 69.5%. Treatment based on patients' biomarker data also slightly decreased from 83.5% pre-pandemic (2019) to 81.5% during the pandemic (2021).
Conclusions: There was no overall significant impact of the pandemic on the antimicrobial prescribing patterns in either hospital when compared with the pre-pandemic findings. The antimicrobial stewardship programmes would appear to have played an important role in controlling antimicrobial consumption during the pandemic.
(© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.)