Dataset Information

Appropriate international measures for outpatient antibiotic prescribing and consumption: recommendations from a national data comparison of different measures.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Many European countries have engaged in awareness campaigns to decrease outpatient antibiotic use and several measures have been proposed, e.g. the number of defined daily doses (DDDs) or packages per 1000 inhabitants per day, producing conflicting findings. Therefore, we set out to explore what measure is most appropriate.

Methods

Outpatient data on each dispensed and reimbursed medicinal package in Belgium between 2002 and 2009 were aggregated at the level of the active substance in accordance with the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification and expressed as the numbers of DDDs (WHO, version 2010), packages, treatments and insured individuals per 1000 inhabitants, insured individuals and patient contacts, per day, and in July-June years. Using these measures, time trends of outpatient antibiotic use were compared and explored in detail.

Results

Expressed per 1000 inhabitants per day, outpatient antibiotic use increased between 2002-03 and 2008-09 in DDDs, whereas in packages, treatments and insured individuals it decreased. The same was true for use expressed per 1000 insured individuals or when allowing for the decreasing number of patient contacts. Increasing numbers of DDDs per package (more items per package and higher doses per unit for amoxicillin and co-amoxiclav) explain these discrepancies.

Conclusions

The number of packages is a more appropriate measure than the number of DDDs when assessing outpatient antibiotic use over time and the impact of awareness campaigns in countries dispensing 'complete packages'. We recommended the use of different complementary measures or caution when interpreting trends based only on DDDs.

SUBMITTER: Coenen S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3937596 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Appropriate international measures for outpatient antibiotic prescribing and consumption: recommendations from a national data comparison of different measures.

Coenen Samuel S Gielen Birgit B Blommaert Adriaan A Beutels Philippe P Hens Niel N Goossens Herman H

The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy 20131001 2

<h4>Objectives</h4>Many European countries have engaged in awareness campaigns to decrease outpatient antibiotic use and several measures have been proposed, e.g. the number of defined daily doses (DDDs) or packages per 1000 inhabitants per day, producing conflicting findings. Therefore, we set out to explore what measure is most appropriate.<h4>Methods</h4>Outpatient data on each dispensed and reimbursed medicinal package in Belgium between 2002 and 2009 were aggregated at the level of the acti ...[more]

PMID: 24084641

Similar Datasets

Project description:Importance:Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the syndrome for which antibiotics are most commonly prescribed; viruses for which antibiotics are ineffective cause most ARIs. Objectives:To characterize antibiotic prescribing among outpatients with ARI during influenza season and to identify targets for reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for common ARI diagnoses, including among outpatients with laboratory-confirmed influenza. Design, Setting, and Participants:Cohort study enrolling outpatients aged 6 months or older with ARI evaluated at outpatient clinics associated with 5 US Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network sites during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 influenza seasons. All patients received influenza testing by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for research purposes only. Antibiotic prescriptions, medical history, and International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis codes were collected from medical and pharmacy records, as were group A streptococcal (GAS) testing results in a patient subset. Exposure:Visit for ARI, defined by a new cough of 7 days' duration or less. Main Outcomes and Measures:Antibiotic prescription within 7 days of enrollment. Appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing was based on diagnosis codes, clinical information, and influenza and GAS testing results. Results:Of 14?987 patients with ARI (mean [SD] age, 32 [24] years; 8638 [58%] women; 11?892 [80%] white), 6136 (41%) were prescribed an antibiotic. Among these 6136 patients, 2522 (41%) had diagnoses for which antibiotics are not indicated; 2106 (84%) of these patients were diagnosed as having a viral upper respiratory tract infection or bronchitis (acute or not otherwise specified). Among the 3306 patients (22%) not diagnosed as having pneumonia and who had laboratory-confirmed influenza, 945 (29%) were prescribed an antibiotic, accounting for 17% of all antibiotic prescriptions among patients with nonpneumonia ARI. Among 1248 patients with pharyngitis, 1137 (91%) had GAS testing; 440 of the 1248 patients (35%) were prescribed antibiotics, among whom 168 (38%) had negative results on GAS testing. Of 1200 patients with sinusitis and no other indication for antibiotic treatment who received an antibiotic, 454 (38%) had symptoms for 3 days or less prior to the outpatient visit, suggesting acute viral sinusitis not requiring antibiotics. Conclusions and Relevance:Antibiotic overuse remains widespread in the treatment of outpatient ARIs, including among patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza, although study sites may not be representative of other outpatient settings. Identified targets for improved outpatient antibiotic stewardship include eliminating antibiotic treatment of viral upper respiratory tract infections and bronchitis and improving adherence to prescribing guidelines for pharyngitis and sinusitis. Increased access to sensitive and timely virus diagnostic tests, particularly for influenza, may reduce unnecessary antibiotic use for these syndromes.

Project description:BackgroundCOVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are two intersecting public health crises. Antimicrobial overuse in patients with COVID-19 threatens to worsen AMR. Guidelines are fundamental in encouraging antimicrobial stewardship. We sought to assess the quality of antibiotic prescribing guidelines and recommendations in the context of COVID-19, and whether they incorporate principles of antimicrobial stewardship.MethodsWe performed a systematic survey which included a search using the concepts "antibiotic/antimicrobial" up to November 15, 2022 of the eCOVID-19 living map of recommendations (RecMap) which aggregates guidelines across a range of international sources and all languages. Guidelines providing explicit recommendations regarding antibacterial use in COVID-19 were eligible for inclusion. Guideline and recommendation quality were assessed using the AGREE II and AGREE-REX instruments, respectively. We extracted guideline characteristics including panel representation and the presence or absence of explicit statements related to antimicrobial stewardship (i.e., judicious antibiotic use, antimicrobial resistance or adverse effects as a consequence of antibiotic use). We used logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between guideline characteristics including quality and incorporation of antimicrobial stewardship principles. Protocol registration (OSF): https://osf.io/4pgtc.FindingsTwenty-eight guidelines with 63 antibiotic prescribing recommendations were included. Recommendations focused on antibiotic initiation (n = 52, 83%) and less commonly antibiotic selection (n = 13, 21%), and duration of therapy (n = 15, 24%). Guideline and recommendation quality varied widely. Twenty (71%) guidelines incorporated at least one concept relating to antimicrobial stewardship. Including infectious diseases expertise on the guideline panel (OR 9.44, 97.5% CI: 1.09-81.59) and AGREE-REX score (OR 3.26, 97.5% CI: 1.14-9.31 per 10% increase in overall score) were associated with a higher odds of guidelines addressing antimicrobial stewardship.InterpretationThere is an opportunity to improve antibiotic prescribing guidelines in terms of both quality and incorporation of antimicrobial stewardship principles. These findings can help guideline developers better address antibiotic stewardship in future recommendations beyond COVID-19.FundingThis project was funded by Michael G. DeGroote Cochrane Canada and McMaster GRADE centres.

Dataset Information

Appropriate international measures for outpatient antibiotic prescribing and consumption: recommendations from a national data comparison of different measures.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Appropriate international measures for outpatient antibiotic prescribing and consumption: recommendations from a national data comparison of different measures.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets