PMID: 11911035Mar 26, 2002Paper

Antibiotic usage in community-acquired infections in hospitals in Taiwan

Journal of the Formosan Medical Association = Taiwan Yi Zhi
Monto HoJann-Tay Wang

Abstract

Using an epidemiologically meaningful in-hospital population with community-acquired infections, we evaluated antibiotic therapy in terms of indication and choice of antibiotic and microbiologic work-up. Infectious disease specialists evaluated charts of 436 patients from 9 hospitals and selected those who received antibiotics within 3 days of admission. Each antibiotic prescribed was marked for appropriateness of indication and choice. Microbiologic isolates were evaluated for their clinical significance. The most common infections were in the lower respiratory tract (46.1%). Each patient received a mean of 2.25 antibiotics for 8.1 +/- 6.4 days. Of the 975 courses of antibiotics given in the study period, indication and choice were correct in 37.4% and unsatisfactory in 14.5%. The vast majority of antibiotics used (79.2%) were first-line antibiotics--usually first-generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, and aminopenicillins. Most patients (66%) had a microbiology laboratory work-up, but only 37.4% were judged by evaluators to have a meaningful microbiologic diagnosis. Among the 201 patients with lower respiratory tract infections, 105 (52.2%) had a diagnosis of pneumonia. A positive isolate was recovered in 30 (28.6%) pati...Continue Reading

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