Point prevalence study of antibiotic use in a paediatric hospital in Italy

Abstract

A survey aimed to describe the prevalence of antibiotic use in hospitalised children was conducted in June 2007, in Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital in Rome which has the highest annual number of inpatients among paediatric hospitals in Italy. Data were collected by reviewing medical charts of all patients hospitalised for >48 hours. A total of 412 hospitalised children were evaluated; their median age was 42.3 months, and 55.6% were males. Antibiotics were prescribed to 181 of the 412 patients (43.9%). The prevalence was lowest (37.7%) in medical wards, higher (51.1%) in intensive care units and highest (52.2%) in surgical wards. Of the patients treated with antibiotics in surgical wards, 71% received the treatment as prophylaxis. The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were ceftazidime and the combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. The observed prevalence of antibiotic use was within the range recently reported from other paediatric hospitals in Europe; however, it is advisable to collect data from all over the country in order to identify priority areas and design interventions. These results also highlight the need to implement guidelines for surgical prophylaxis in children, and to further investigate reasons for prescription of parenteral antibiotic therapy in paediatric hospitals.

Point prevalence survey on antibiotic use in a Croatian Infectious Disease Hospital

“…Like in other reported studies no statistically significant differences by sex were noted 15,16,17,19,28 . A higher proportion of patients on antibiotics was recorded among adult (65%) than among paediatric (37.5%) patients which suggests that childhood viral infections are more common reason for admission to hospital than bacterial infections.…”

“…Prevalence studies on antibiotic prescribing in hospitals report different proportions of patients receiving antibiotics with rates varying between 17 -51% 15,17,18,19,23,24,25,26 . This study analyzed antimicrobial drug use in an infectious disease hospital and a high proportion of patients on antibiotics (approx.…”

“…One of the frequently used surveillance methods for internal quality control in antibiotic prescribing is a point prevalence survey (PPS) of antibiotic use in hospitals. It is used to evaluate the prevalence of antibiotic use and the appropriateness of antibiotic therapy 14,15,16,17,18,19 .…”

Prescription pattern of antimicrobial drugs in pediatrics outpatient department of a tertiary care teaching hospital of North India

“…The percentage of antibiotic in prescriptions containing one or more antibiotic in the study area was consistent with the study conducted in United States, Nepal, Srilanka and India, but the result was generally higher compared to other studies 10,11 and the WHO guideline. 12 The percentage of antimicrobial prescription in Toddlers was relatively higher compared to school children and adolescents which may be due to their more curious behavior & low level of immunity or may be due to physician behavior in 13,14 ordering medication in association with age; diagnostic and clinical investigation factors, and variability in patient complaints and over conscious attitude of the parents. This result was consistent with the study conducted in Italy.…”

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) pilot point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use

“…This is considered to be the main reason why microorganisms isolated from hospital infections show more resistant profiles than microorganisms from community infections [17]. Various hospital PPSs on antimicrobial use were carried out in the last three decades [18][19][20][21][22]. Also these PPS varied greatly in aims, protocols and populations surveyed, thus making comparison of their results difficult.…”