Antimicrobial management in community acquired pneumonia in hospital at home: Is there room for improvement?

INTRODUCTION: Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) is common disease that can be treated in Hospital At Home (HAH). In this paper we evaluate the room of improvement in the use of antibiotics in CAP in HH. METHODS: Patients with CAP were retrospectively recruited in two Spanish hospitals from 1/1/18 to 10/30/19. Demographic, clinical and quality of antibiotic prescription variables were recorded. Subsequently, we created a new variable that collected six quality of care indicator, categorizing and comparing patients into two groups: good quality of care (4 or more indicators performed) or poor quality of care (3 or less indicators performed). RESULTS: We recruited 260 patients. The request for diagnostic tests and the adequacy to Clinical Practice Guidelines were 85.4% and 85.8% respectively. Percentages of de-escalation (53.7%) and sequential therapy (57.7%) when indicated were low. The average length of treatment was 7.3 days for intravenous and 9.5 days for total. Quality of prescription was good in 134 (63.2%) patients, being more frequent in those who were admitted directly to HAD from the emergency room. It was also associated with less readmission at 30 days. CONCLUSION: There is a wide room for improvement in some fields of antimicrobials use in HAH that could stimulate the implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs.

Manejo antibiótico en neumonía adquirida en la comunidad en la hospitalización a domicilio: ¿Hay margen de mejora? / Antimicrobial management in community acquired pneumonia in hospital at home: Is there room for improvement?

Introducción: La neumonía adquirida en la comunidad (NAC) es una enfermedad frecuente que puede ser abordada en hospitalización a domicilio (HAD). En el presente trabajo evaluamos el margen de mejora con el uso de antibióticos en la NAC en HAD. Métodos: Se reclutaron retrospectivamente todos los pacientes con NAC en dos hospitales españoles desde el 01 de enero de 2018 al 30 de octubre de 2019. Se registraron variables demográficas, clínicas y sobre calidad de prescripción antibiótica. Posteriormente se construyó una variable que recogía seis indicadores de calidad asistencial, categorizando y comparando a los pacientes en dos grupos: buena calidad asistencial (cuatro o más indicadores realizados) o mala calidad asistencial (tres o menos indicadores realizados). Resultados: Obtuvimos una muestra de 260 pacientes. La solicitud de pruebas diagnósticas y la adecuación a las guías de práctica clínica fue del 85,4 y 85,8%, respectivamente. Los porcentajes de realización de desescalada (53,7%) y terapia secuencial (57,7%) cuando estaban indicadas fueron bajos. La duración media del tratamiento fue de 7,3 días para el intravenoso y 9,5 días para el total. La calidad de prescripción fue buena en 134 (63,2%) pacientes, siendo más frecuente en aquellos que ingresaron directamente en HAD desde urgencias. También se asoció a menor reingreso a 30 días. Conclusión: Existe un amplio margen de mejora en algunos aspectos con el uso de antimicrobianos en HAD, que podría motivar la implementación de programas de optimización del uso de antibióticos.(AU)

Introduction: Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) is common disease that can be treated in Hospital At Home (HAH). In this paper we evaluate the room of improvement in the use of antibiotics in CAP in HH. Methods: Patients with CAP were retrospectively recruited in two Spanish hospitals from 1/1/18 to 10/30/19. Demographic, clinical and quality of antibiotic prescription variables were recorded. Subsequently, we created a new variable that collected six quality of care indicator, categorizing and comparing patients into two groups: good quality of care (4 or more indicators performed) or poor quality of care (3 or less indicators performed). Results: We recruited 260 patients. The request for diagnostic tests and the adequacy to Clinical Practice Guidelines were 85.4% and 85.8% respectively. Percentages of de-escalation (53.7%) and sequential therapy (57.7%) when indicated were low. The average length of treatment was 7.3 days for intravenous and 9.5 days for total. Quality of prescription was good in 134 (63.2%) patients, being more frequent in those who were admitted directly to HAD from the emergency room. It was also associated with less readmission at 30 days. Conclusion: There is a wide room for improvement in some fields of antimicrobials use in HAH that could stimulate the implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs. (AU)