Provider-specific feedback tied to improved UTI prescribing
A multifaceted antibiotic stewardship strategy implemented in three emergency departments (EDs) was associated with an increase in guideline-concordant antibiotic choices for patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs), researchers reported today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The strategy was implemented at three North Carolina hospitals with the aim of improving UTI prescribing in the ED setting, where UTIs are often inappropriately treated.
Phase 1 of the intervention included an ED-specific, urinary source antibiogram, ED-specific UTI diagnosis and treatment guidelines, an education session for ED prescribers, and department-specific email feedback on UTI diagnoses, antimicrobial use, and guideline-concordant prescribing. An antibiogram is a profile of antimicrobial susceptibility of a microorganism to different antimicrobial drugs. Phase 2 included re-education and provider-specific feedback.
In a quasi-experimental study, researchers used an interrupted time series regression analysis with 2-week intervals to assess guideline-concordant prescribing over the pre-intervention period and the two intervention periods.
Overall, 8,742 distinct patients with 10,426 patient encounters were included in the analysis. Ninety-two percent of all encounters (n=9,583) were diagnosed with cystitis and 8.1% with pyelonephritis (n=843).
There was an initial 15% increase in guideline-concordant antibiotic prescribing following Phase 1, compared to the pre-intervention period (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 1.29). Although no significant change in guideline-concordant prescribing was seen initially following Phase 2, a 3% increase in guideline-concordant prescriptions was seen with every 2-week interval during Phase 2 (IRR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.04), compared with Phase 1.
By the end of the study period, ED prescribers achieved 56.1% guideline concordance, compared with 42.8% in the pre-intervention period and 49.7% in Phase 1.
The study authors say the provider-specific feedback in Phase 2 likely played a role in achieving a sustained increase in guideline concordance.
"While an education session and dissemination of guideline recommendations provided a small immediate effect, ongoing and sustainable effects were only observed when data was consistently fed back and personalized for prescribers," they write.
Feb 1 Clin Infect Dis abstract
More H5 avian flu outbreaks reported in Canadian and Dutch birds
Canada and the Netherlands reported more avian flu events, according to media and government reports.
Media reports from Canada that cite the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the H5N1 strain was confirmed in a Canada goose found dead on a hobby farm in Nova Scotia near Halifax, where the virus killed all but 1 of the 60 birds.
The outbreak marks Canada's third recent H5N1 detection, following two earlier events in wild birds and poultry in December and January in Newfoundland and Labrador. Shortly after, the United States reported three similar events in North Carolina and South Carolina, all involving the same Eurasian H5N1 strain that has been spreading in poultry and wild birds in other parts of the world.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands reported two more H5 outbreaks, according to separate notifications from the county's agriculture ministry. One of the events occurred at a broiler duck farm in Flevoland province, which led to the culling of 9,700 birds. The other took place at a layer farm in Gelderland province, where 168,000 chickens were culled.
Jan 30 Global News story
Jan 30 Dutch agriculture ministry report on H5 at a duck farm
Feb 1 Dutch agriculture ministry report on H5 at a poultry farm