Stewardship intervention at VA clinics shows durable success, study finds
A multifaceted outpatient stewardship intervention at Veterans Affairs primary care clinics in Pennsylvania was associated with sustained reductions in overall, unnecessary, and suboptimal antibiotic prescription rates for up to a year after some components were discontinued, researchers reported today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The intervention at seven primary care clinics in the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS), implemented in response to high rates of inappropriate antibiotic use, involved clinician education, peer comparisons of overall antibiotic prescribing rates (provided to prescribers in monthly emails), and a clinical decision support electronic order set, and was directed against all antibiotic prescribing.
The intervention was tied to a significant reduction in total and unnecessary antibiotic prescribing, but after 6 months, peer comparisons were discontinued. To evaluate whether benefits of the intervention were sustained after ending peer comparisons, researchers from VAPHS, the University of Pittsburgh, and Allegheny Health Network analyzed overall, unnecessary, and suboptimal antibiotic prescribing during the baseline period (January to June 2016), the intervention period (January to June 2017), and the post-intervention period (January to June 2018).
When adjusted for seasonality, the results showed that the mean antibiotic prescribing rate fell from 76.9 prescriptions per 1,000 office visits during the baseline period to 49.5 per 1,000 office visits (a 35.6% reduction) and remained significantly lower during the post-intervention period (56.3 per 1,000 office visits, 26.8% lower than the baseline). The rate of unnecessary antibiotic prescribing fell from 58.8% during baseline to 37.8% during the intervention and 44.3% post-intervention. Overall, 19.9% of antibiotics were prescribed optimally during the baseline period, compared with 36.6% during the intervention and 34.9% during the post-intervention period.
Although the results show the intervention achieved durable success, the authors note that roughly 40% of antibiotic prescriptions were still not indicated and 65% were suboptimal. In response to the data, they have reinstituted an ongoing education and peer-comparison based approach.
"While we observed long-term benefits after withdrawing peer comparison, our experience suggests that best results will be attained with sustained rather than time-limited interventions," they write.
Dec 9 Clin Infect Dis abstract
Hospital stewardship program linked to lower antibiotic use, AMR
In another study published today in Clinical Infectious Diseases, Canadian researchers reported that implementation of a comprehensive hospital-based antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) at a Toronto hospital resulted in reduced antibiotic use and was associated with a significant decline in institutional antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The controlled interrupted time series study by researchers from the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre looked at 14 years (October 2002 to September 2016) of data from Sunnybrook's Bayview Campus, a 627-bed teaching hospital where an ASP was implemented in 2009. The ASP involved dedicated infectious diseases physicians and pharmacists providing regular service-specific education, hospital-wide antibiotic guidelines, formulary restrictions, and pharmacist-led prospective audit-and-feedback for targeted antibiotics. The primary outcome analyzed in the study was the change in incidence of hospital-acquired antibiotic-resistant organisms (HA-AROs) and multidrug-resistant organisms (HA-MDROs) among clinical isolates.
The analysis found statistically significant shifts in consumption of targeted antibiotics (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.98; 90% confidence interval [CI], 0.87 to 1.10), non-targeted antibiotics (IRR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.04), and total antibiotics (IRR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.85 to 1.04) during the intervention period, corresponding with a 9% reduction in HA-ARO burden (IRR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.83 to 0.99) and 13% reduction in HA-MDRO burden (IRR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.73 to 1.04).
This occurred despite an upward trajectory in community associated (CA) antibiotic resistance rates throughout the baseline and intervention periods, during which CA-ARO burden rose by 40% (IRR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.28 to 1.54) and CA-MDRO burden rose by 68% (IRR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.57 to 1.82).
Dec 9 Clin Infect Dis abstract
Review of penicillin allergy may lower use of non–beta-lactams
More than two thirds of patients with reported penicillin allergies at a Miami hospital were able to take other beta-lactam antibiotics, according to research presented today at the midyear clinical meeting of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP).
In the study, pharmacists from Baptist Hospital of Miami interviewed 63 patients with reported penicillin allergies and then reviewed their medication histories prior to verifying orders for alternative antibiotics. The reviews revealed that 43 of the 63 patients (68%) had previously and successfully used other beta-lactam antibiotics, most often cephalosporins, and that aztreonam and levofloxacin were the most commonly prescribed non–beta-lactam antibiotics before the assessment. The pharmacists recommended switching these patients to a beta-lactam antibiotic, and the substitution saved the hospital $21,500 over 3 months.
Penicillin allergies are reported by up to 10% of the population, but research has shown that more than 95% of patients reporting penicillin allergy are not truly allergic. Non–beta-lactam substitutions are frequently more expensive, broader spectrum, and associated with more side effects.
"The prevalence of this perceived allergy makes our study particularly useful to hospitals and healthcare systems as they look at better patient care and cost reductions," Rita Chamoun, PharmD, clinical staff pharmacist at Baptist Hospital of Miami and lead author of the study, said in an ASHP press release. "Working together, pharmacists and other medical professionals can find alternatives that work for some patients. A multi-disciplinary approach is key to optimizing therapy in patients with a reported penicillin allergy."
Chamoun said the study also illustrates the importance of evaluating and improving antibiotic allergy documentation.
Dec 9 ASHP press release