Economic Burden Of Inappropriate Empiric Antibiotic Therapy: A Report From Southern Iran

Overuse of medications in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review

Objective

To identify and summarize the evidence about the extent of overuse of medications in low- and middle-income countries, its drivers, consequences and potential solutions.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review by searching the databases PubMed®, Embase®, APA PsycINFO® and Global Index Medicus using a combination of MeSH terms and free text words around overuse of medications and overtreatment. We included studies in any language published before 25 October 2021 that reported on the extent of overuse, its drivers, consequences and solutions.

Findings

We screened 3489 unique records and included 367 studies reporting on over 5.1 million prescriptions across 80 low- and middle-income countries - with studies from 58.6% (17/29) of all low-, 62.0% (31/50) of all lower-middle- and 60.0% (33/55) of all upper-middle-income countries. Of the included studies, 307 (83.7%) reported on the extent of overuse of medications, with estimates ranging from 7.3% to 98.2% (interquartile range: 30.2-64.5). Commonly overused classes included antimicrobials, psychotropic drugs, proton pump inhibitors and antihypertensive drugs. Drivers included limited knowledge of harms of overuse, polypharmacy, poor regulation and financial influences. Consequences were patient harm and cost. Only 11.4% (42/367) of studies evaluated solutions, which included regulatory reforms, educational, deprescribing and audit-feedback initiatives.

Conclusion

Growing evidence suggests overuse of medications is widespread within low- and middle-income countries, across multiple drug classes, with few data of solutions from randomized trials. Opportunities exist to build collaborations to rigorously develop and evaluate potential solutions to reduce overuse of medications.

Compliance of imipenem and meropenem administration with the national antimicrobial stewardship program in a referral teaching hospital in Iran

INTRODUCTION

Considering the great significance of antimicrobial resistance, implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in healthcare facilities is of particular importance. This study aimed to evaluate the compliance of imipenem and meropenem administration with the ASP guidelines in a referral teaching hospital in Iran.

METHODS

In this retrospective cross-sectional study, the medical records of patients, who received either imipenem or meropenem at xx Hospital in Semnan, Iran, from March 21, 2017 until March 20, 2019, were reviewed using the developed ASP, according to the instructions issued by the Ministry of Health of Iran. The obtained findings were recorded in a checklist consisted of six items. If the action taken for the patient complied with the item requirement specified in the ASP, it would receive a score of one; otherwise, a score of zero. The sum of scores (range: 0-6) was reported and analyzed. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 23, using Chi-square, ANOVA, and independent t-test, and P <0.05 was considered as significant.

RESULTS

The mean duration of imipenem/meropenem administration was 9.2±8.0 days. A total of 6,032 imipenem/meropenem vials (1 g/vial) were prescribed during the study (meropenem for 210 patients and imipenem for 87 patients). In 64.2% of the patients, there was no indication, and the mean score of the subjects was 1.55±1.2. The obtained score was three in 53 (17.8%) records and four in 18 (6.1%) records. The mean score of ASP in the intensive care units was higher, while it was lower in the surgical ward as compared to the other wards (P=0.002).

DISCUSSION

Antibiotic prescription was inappropriate in our center, and compliance with the ASP guidelines was very low, especially in the surgical wards. It seems necessary to take effective steps for planning continuing education programs on rational antibiotic prescription and supervision of prescription patterns.

The appropriateness of ceftriaxone utilization in government hospitals of Eastern Ethiopia: A retrospective evaluation of clinical practice

Introduction:

Drug use evaluation is a method of obtaining information to identify problems related to drug use and if properly developed, a means of correcting the problems. Ceftriaxone is among the most commonly utilized cephalosporins. Owing to a broad spectrum of activity and being used empirically, ceftriaxone has been used inappropriately posing a risk for development of antimicrobial resistance. This study is, therefore, designed to evaluate the appropriateness of ceftriaxone utilization in government hospitals in Harar town.

Methods:

A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in four government hospitals of Harar town by reviewing the medical records of 271 patients who received ceftriaxone from 1 January to 31 December 2016. Systematic random sampling was utilized to capture the medical records. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 22.

Results:

From the 271 medical records reviewed majority of patients were from surgical ward (n = 85, 31.4%) followed by gynecology and obstetrics ward (n = 67, 24.7%). Demographically, the majority of the patients were female (n = 142, 52.4%). Patients in the age group of 20–29 years were dominant (n = 98, 36.2%). A total of 71 drugs were co-administered with ceftriaxone, the most common being metronidazole followed by tramadol. Among the co-administered drugs, unfractionated heparin (n = 6), warfarin (n = 5), and enoxaparin (n = 1) were found to have a moderate drug interaction with ceftriaxone. Ceftriaxone was commonly used for post-operative prophylaxis (n = 80, 27.5%) followed by for the management of pneumonia (n = 62, 21.3%). The result of ceftriaxone use evaluation showed that majority (n = 190, 70.1%) were found to be inappropriate. The inappropriate utilization was primarily due to wrong indication (indications for which ceftriaxone was not the primary option) (n = 114, 60.0%) followed by wrong duration (n = 54, 28.4%).

Conclusion:

Ceftriaxone was used inappropriately in more than two-thirds of the patients, with wrong indication and wrong duration contributing the majority. Inappropriate use of antibiotics may potentially lead to the emergence and spread of drug-resistant microorganisms and also ultimately exposes the patient to treatment failure, prolonged hospital stay, and higher cost of therapy.

Impact of inappropriate empirical antibiotic treatment on clinical outcomes of urinary tract infections caused by Escherichia coli: a retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to determine the clinical impact of inappropriate empirical antibiotic treatment (IEAT) compared with appropriate empirical antibiotic treatment (AEAT) in hospitalised patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli).

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study included adult patients with a primary diagnosis of UTI who were treated with empirical antibiotics at a tertiary hospital in southern China over a 2-year period. Clinical data of patients who received IEAT were compared with those of patients receiving AEAT. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify the predictors for receiving IEAT and the risk factors affecting clinical outcomes.

RESULTS

A total of 213 patients were enrolled (median age, 61 years), of whom 103 (48.4%) received IEAT. IEAT was associated with empirical use of fluoroquinolones, male sex and age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (aCCI) score >6. Hospital length of stay (LOS) was longer for patients who received IEAT than for those who received AEAT (13.6 ± 8.6 days vs. 10.8 ± 7.9 days; P = 0.008). IEAT was an independent risk factor for longer LOS along with aCCI score ≥2, lung disease and cardiac disease.

CONCLUSION

Empirical use of fluoroquinolones for UTIs should be avoided, especially in male patients with aCCI score >6. Improved empirical antimicrobial therapy may have a beneficial impact in reducing bacterial resistance and healthcare costs by decreasing the LOS. Therefore, interventions to promote in-depth antibiotic stewardship programmes in China are needed.

A game theoretic approach reveals that discretizing clinical information can reduce antibiotic misuse

The overuse of antibiotics is exacerbating the antibiotic resistance crisis. Since this problem is a classic common-goods dilemma, it naturally lends itself to a game-theoretic analysis. Hence, we designed a model wherein physicians weigh whether antibiotics should be prescribed, given that antibiotic usage depletes its future effectiveness. The physicians' decisions rely on the probability of a bacterial infection before definitive laboratory results are available. We show that the physicians' equilibrium decision rule of antibiotic prescription is not socially optimal. However, we prove that discretizing the information provided to physicians can mitigate the gap between their equilibrium decisions and the social optimum of antibiotic prescription. Despite this problem's complexity, the effectiveness of the discretization solely depends on the type of information available to the physician to determine the nature of infection. This is demonstrated on theoretic distributions and a clinical dataset. Our results provide a game-theory based guide for optimal output of current and future decision support systems of antibiotic prescription.

The Impact of an Antibiotic Stewardship Program on the Consumption of Specific Antimicrobials and Their Cost Burden: A Hospital-wide Intervention

Background

Inappropriate use of antimicrobials (AM) is a major concern worldwide that leads to the propagation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In addition to its clinical implications, AMR imposes an economic burden on communities, especially developing countries with more infectious diseases and less available resources. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) have been found to be effective in reducing AMR. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of implementing an ASP in reducing AM consumption, its economic burden, and AMR as a consecutive result.

Materials and Methods

Consumption of caspofungin, amphotericin B, voriconazole, colistin, linezolid, vancomycin, and carbapenems was compared in a prospective cross-sectional study between two time periods introduced as pre- and post-ASP. Drug use density presented as anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC)/defined daily doses (DDD) and normalized per 1000 bed days, cost savings, and AMR patterns were evaluated.

Results

A total of 9400 AM prescriptions were analyzed during a 2-year period. Consumption measured in DDD/1000 bed days dropped by 24.8, 25.0, 35.3, 47.0, 39.2, 10.5, and 23.2 percent for amphotericin B, caspofungin, colistin, voriconazole, meropenem, imipenem, and vancomycin, respectively. Linezolid consumption increased by 26.8% after implementing ASP. The expenditure of target AMs in the average value of USD decreased by 41.3% after the intervention compared to the time before using ASP (P-value=0.001). Implementing ASP also increased AM susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, while the susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus did not change significantly.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest that establishment of ASP can lead to a reduction in improper administration of AMs and their expenditure resulting in economic benefit and lowering AMR at hospitals with minimum resources. Clinical pharmacists' role was critical to the success of this ASP and was uniquely empowered at our center.