Macrolide prescription in Dutch children: compliance with guidelines.

For reasons of antibiotic resistance and side effects, macrolides should be prescribed with care in the pediatric population. We evaluated the adherence to Dutch guidelines of macrolide prescription in children and estimated the risk of Mycoplasma pneumoniae-associated pneumonia based on Fischer's decision tree. In this retrospective study, we included children aged 0-18 years who were treated with azithromycin or clarithromycin for pulmonary disease in four settings from general practice to hospital ward for (1) the prescriptions not in accordance with the guideline of the Dutch Association of Pediatrics and (2) the risk of M. pneumoniae in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) according to Fischer's decision tree. The latter suggests that children older than three years with a fever lasting more than two days are at high risk for M. pneumoniae and that it is therefore justified to treat them with macrolides. In total, 189 macrolide prescriptions from 2015 until 2017 were analyzed: 139 children used macrolides for a pulmonary indication (75%); 18% (n = 25) of the prescriptions were not in accordance with Dutch guidelines. Only 9.1% of patients with CAP were classified as having a high risk of M. pneumoniae according to Fischer's decision tree. A significant proportion of macrolide prescriptions for Dutch children with a pulmonary disease appears not to be in accordance with the guidelines. Most patients with CAP treated with a macrolide actually had a low risk of having M. pneumoniae according to Fischer's decision tree. Both observations suggest overuse of macrolides in children.

Adherence to biochemical monitoring recommendations in patients starting with renin angiotensin system inhibitors: a retrospective cohort study in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: Renin angiotensin system inhibitors (RASIs) are frequently involved in serious adverse events. These events principally occur in high-risk patients and often arise within the first days after treatment initiation; therefore, guidelines recommend biochemical monitoring within 3 weeks after the start of therapy with RASIs. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the level of biochemical monitoring directly after treatment initiation with RASIs in patients with different risk profiles and to study the attitudes of the physicians involved towards biochemical monitoring. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective analysis of 202 patients who started RASI therapy in 2006 in Groesbeek, the Netherlands. We determined the rate of serum creatinine and potassium monitoring within 3 weeks after the start of therapy. In addition, we studied the intentions and attitudes towards biochemical monitoring during RASI therapy among 68 general practitioners and medical specialists by way of a brief questionnaire. RESULTS: Serum creatinine and potassium monitoring after treatment initiation was performed in 34% and 28% of patients, respectively. Of all the patients, 29% had two or more additional risk factors for renal function deterioration. In these high-risk patients, creatinine was significantly less often monitored compared with low-risk patients (22% vs 39%). In contrast to these findings, the prescribing physicians claimed to check serum creatinine within 2 weeks after treatment initiation in 85% of their patients. Most of the prescribing physicians (88%) rated this monitoring as (very) important. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that, despite positive intentions of physicians, the biochemical monitoring recommendation in patients treated with RASIs is poorly met. In addition, serum creatinine monitoring was significantly less often performed in high-risk patients compared with low-risk patients.