Effect of tailored antibiotic stewardship programmes on the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing in nursing homes.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of tailored interventions on the appropriateness of decisions to prescribe or withhold antibiotics, antibiotic use and guideline-adherent antibiotic selection in nursing homes (NHs). METHODS: We conducted a quasi-experimental study in 10 NHs in the Netherlands. A participatory action research (PAR) approach was applied, with local stakeholders in charge of selecting tailored interventions based on opportunities for improved antibiotic prescribing that they derived from provided baseline data. An algorithm was used to evaluate the appropriateness of prescribing decisions, based on infections recorded by physicians. Effects of the interventions on the appropriateness of prescribing decisions were analysed with a multilevel logistic regression model. Pharmacy data were used to calculate differences in antibiotic use and recorded infections were used to calculate differences in guideline-adherent antibiotic selection. RESULTS: The appropriateness of 1059 prescribing decisions was assessed. Adjusting for pre-test differences in the proportion of appropriate prescribing decisions (intervention, 82%; control, 70%), post-test appropriateness did not differ between groups (crude: P = 0.26; adjusted for covariates: P = 0.35). We observed more appropriate prescribing decisions at the start of data collection and before receiving feedback on prescribing behaviour. No changes in antibiotic use or guideline-adherent antibiotic selection were observed in intervention NHs. CONCLUSIONS: The PAR approach, or the way PAR was applied in the study, was not effective in improving antibiotic prescribing behaviour. The study findings suggest that drawing prescribers' attention to prescribing behaviour and monitoring activities, and increasing use of diagnostic resources may be promising interventions to improve antibiotic prescribing in NHs.

Quality indicators to measure appropriate antibiotic use in hospitalized adults.

BACKGROUND: An important requirement for an effective antibiotic stewardship program is the ability to measure appropriateness of antibiotic use. The aim of this study was to develop quality indicators (QIs) that can be used to measure appropriateness of antibiotic use in the treatment of all bacterial infections in hospitalized adult patients. METHODS: A RAND-modified Delphi procedure was used to develop a set of QIs. Potential QIs were retrieved from the literature. In 2 questionnaire mailings with an in-between face-to-face consensus meeting, an international multidisciplinary expert panel of 17 experts appraised and prioritized these potential QIs. RESULTS: The literature search resulted in a list of 24 potential QIs. Nine QIs describing recommended care at patient level were selected: (1) take 2 blood cultures, (2) take cultures from suspected sites of infection, (3) prescribe empirical antibiotic therapy according to local guideline, (4) change empirical to pathogen-directed therapy, (5) adapt antibiotic dosage to renal function, (6) switch from intravenous to oral, (7) document antibiotic plan, (8) perform therapeutic drug monitoring, and (9) discontinue antibiotic therapy if infection is not confirmed. Two QIs describing recommended care at the hospital level were also selected: (1) a local antibiotic guideline should be present, and (2) these local guidelines should correspond to the national antibiotic guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: The selected QIs can be used in antibiotic stewardship programs to determine for which aspects of antibiotic use there is room for improvement. At this moment we are testing the clinimetric properties of these QIs in 1800 hospitalized patients, in 22 Dutch hospitals.