Pharmacists' role in antimicrobial stewardship and relationship with antibiotic consumption in hospitals: An observational multicentre study.

OBJECTIVES: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) teams around the world include pharmacists; however, their impact is relatively unknown. This study aimed to explore the relationship between pharmacists' actions and antibiotic consumption. METHODS: Hospital pharmacists involved in the French antibiotic consumption surveillance network (ATB-Raisin) were invited to participate in a retrospective observational multicentre study. Collected data were: the previous year's (2016) antibiotic consumption expressed in daily defined dose per 1000 patient-days; AMS measures, including pharmacist-specific actions; and use of a computerised prescription order entry (CPOE) system. Associations between antibiotic consumption and AMS measures were assessed by linear regression, after adjustment for hospital activities. RESULTS: Annual data for 2016 from 77 hospitals (7260000 bed-days in 24000 beds) were analysed. Pharmacists were involved in AMS programs in 73% of hospitals, and were the antibiotic advisor in 25%. Pharmaceutical review of prescriptions was organised in almost all hospitals (97%). The univariable analysis identified five measures associated with lower overall antibiotic consumption: CPOE use (if >80% of prescriptions or 100%), pharmaceutical review (if >80% of beds or 100%) and the antibiotic advisor being a pharmacist (P=0.04, P=0.004 and P=0.003, respectively). In the multivariable analysis, two explanatory variables were significantly and independently associated with a lower overall antibiotic consumption: the antibiotic advisor being a pharmacist and a pharmaceutical review covering all beds (-19.9% [-31.6%; -8.1%], P=0.002 and -18.3% [-34.0%; -2.6%], P=0.03, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic consumption was lower when the antibiotic advisor was a pharmacist and when the pharmaceutical team reviewed all prescriptions. These results highlight that actions initiated by pharmacists have a positive impact and should be supported.