Reducing unnecessary urine culturing and antibiotic overprescribing in long-term care: a before-and-after analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Antibiotic use in long-term care homes is highly variable. High rates of antibiotic use are associated with antibiotic resistance and Clostridium difficile infection. We asked 2 questions regarding a program designed to improve diagnosis and management of urinary tract infections in long-term care: whether the program decreased urine culturing and antibiotic prescribing rates and whether specific strategies of the program were more or less likely to be adopted.

Methods

The study included 10 long-term care homes in Ontario, Canada, between December 2015 and May 2017. We assessed the implementation of the program's 9 strategies via semistructured interviews with key informants. Using a before-and-after study design, and on the basis of monthly facility-level

SUBMITTER: Brown KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6440882 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan-Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature