Spinal Cord Injury Provider Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Bacteriuria Management and Antibiotic Stewardship

Impact of a sustained, collaborative antimicrobial stewardship programme in spinal cord injury patients

Background

In patients with spinal cord injuries (SCIs), infections continue to be a leading cause of morbidity, mortality and hospital admission.

Objectives

This study evaluated the long-term impact of a weekly, multidisciplinary Spinal/Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) meeting for acute-care SCI inpatients, on antimicrobial prescribing over 3 years.

Methods

A retrospective, longitudinal, pre-post comparison of antimicrobial prescribing was conducted at our tertiary hospital in Melbourne. Antimicrobial prescribing was audited in 6 month blocks pre- (25 April 2017 to 24 October 2017), immediately post- (27 March 2018 to 25 September 2018) and 3 years post-implementation (2 March 2021 to 31 August 2021). Antimicrobial orders for patients admitted under the spinal unit at the meeting time were included.

Results

The number of SCI patients prescribed an antimicrobial at the time of the weekly meeting decreased by 40% at 3 years post-implementation [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.63; 95% CI 0.51-0.79; P ≤ 0.001]. The overall number of antimicrobial orders decreased by over 22% at 3 years post-implementation (IRR 0.78; 95% CI 0.61-1.00; P = 0.052). A shorter antimicrobial order duration in the 3 year post-implementation period was observed (-28%; 95% CI -39% to -15%; P ≤ 0.001). This was most noticeable in IV orders at 3 years (-36%; 95% CI -51% to -16%; P = 0.001), and was also observed for oral orders at 3 years (-25%; 95% CI -38% to -10%; P = 0.003). Antimicrobial course duration (days) decreased for multiple indications: skin and soft tissue infections (-43%; 95% CI -67% to -1%; P = 0.045), pulmonary infections (-45%; 95% CI -67% to -9%; P = 0.022) and urinary infections (-31%; 95% CI -47% to -9%; P = 0.009). Ninety-day mortality rates were not impacted.

Conclusions

This study showed that consistent, collaborative meetings between the Spinal and AMS teams can reduce antimicrobial exposure for acute-care SCI patients without adversely impacting 90 day mortality.

Perceptions, experiences, and beliefs regarding urinary tract infections in patients with neurogenic bladder: A qualitative study

Although urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in patients with neurogenic bladder (NB), limited data exist on UTI perceptions, experiences, and beliefs in these patients. We recruited adults with NB due to spinal cord injury/disorder (SCI/D) or multiple sclerosis (MS) at three Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers to participate in 11 virtual focus groups. Audio transcripts were coded using a mixed approach with primary deductive codes linked to the Health Belief Model, and secondary inductive codes informed by grounded theory. Twenty-three Veterans (SCI/D, 78%; MS, 18.5%) participated between May 2021 and May 2022. Participants' perspectives, experiences, and beliefs about UTI were reflected in three major themes: 1) influence of caregivers; 2) influence of the healthcare environment and provider characteristics; and 3) barriers and facilitators to care. Caregivers promoted care-seeking behavior, enabled in-home care, and enhanced participants' self-efficacy to understand educational material. Participants had poor perceptions of providers who were not knowledgeable about NB or ineffectively communicated. Good relationships with providers who knew the participant well improved self-efficacy to follow provider recommendations. These results suggest that patient-centered interventions to improve UTI management in this population should expand caregiver involvement, enhance patient-provider communication, and target provider types and care settings that lack familiarity with NB.

Experiences of veterans with spinal cord injury related to annual urine screening and antibiotic use for urinary tract infections

INTRODUCTION

Antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections are an increasing public health threat and people with spinal cord injury (SCI) are disproportionally at higher risk. National guidelines concerning urine testing after SCI are conflicting. Unnecessary urine testing in the SCI population (with high asymptomatic bacteriuria prevalence) leads to unnecessary antimicrobial use, propagating resistant infections, especially urinary tract infections (UTIs).

OBJECTIVES

(a) Describe UTI antimicrobial adherence in patients with SCI. (b) Explore SCI patient knowledge and attitudes toward current urine testing and treatment practices.

DESIGN

Mixed methods.

SETTING

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients with SCI.

PARTICIPANTS

Veterans identified as having SCI seen at a VHA facility nationwide.

INTERVENTIONS

N/A.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Self-reported medication adherence, patient beliefs and behaviors toward UTIs and antimicrobial use.

RESULTS

A total of 105 Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) surveys were completed out of 369 distributed surveys (28% response rate). Overall, patients reported high medication adherence (mean score of 7.2/8, with 8 being a perfect adherence score). Ten qualitative interviews were completed. Themes identified include generally high adherence to prescribed antimicrobial courses and high levels of patient satisfaction with current outpatient VHA SCI bladder care. The quantitative findings converge with these themes observed in the qualitative interviews; patients were satisfied with current urine testing and treatment practices.

CONCLUSIONS

Veterans with SCI are generally satisfied with their current UTI management and self-report taking antimicrobials for UTIs as prescribed. Veterans with SCI typically report high trust in their SCI providers and value their advice on bladder care management. Therefore, it is imperative for clinicians to provide evidence-based education to patients, as well as ensure that each prescribed course of antibiotics for UTI is clinically necessary. Information from this study will guide an intervention promoting appropriate urine testing and antimicrobial prescription practices by SCI providers.