Publication
Title
A point prevalence survey of antibiotic use in four acute-care teaching hospitals utilizing the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC) audit tool
Author
Institution/Organisation
ESAC Hospital Care Subproject Group
Abstract
The objective of this research was to assess current patterns of hospital antibiotic prescribing in Northern Ireland and to determine targets for improving the quality of antibiotic prescribing. A point prevalence survey was conducted in four acute teaching hospitals. The most commonly used antibiotics were combinations of penicillins including beta-lactamase inhibitors (33.6%), metronidazole (9.1%), and macrolides (8.1%). The indication for treatment was recorded in 84.3% of the prescribing episodes. A small fraction (3.9%) of the surgical prophylactic antibiotic prescriptions was for >24 h. The results showed that overall 52.4% of the prescribed antibiotics were in compliance with the hospital antibiotic guidelines. The findings identified the following indicators as targets for quality improvement: indication recorded in patient notes, the duration of surgical prophylaxis and compliance with hospital antibiotic guidelines. The results strongly suggest that antibiotic use could be improved by taking steps to address the identified targets for quality improvement.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Epidemiology and infection. - London, 1987, currens
Publication
London : 2012
ISSN
0950-2688 [print]
1469-4409 [online]
DOI
10.1017/S095026881100241X
Volume/pages
140 :9 (2012) , p. 1714-1720
ISI
000307283700022
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 09.10.2012
Last edited 09.10.2023
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