Prevalence of Clinical Signs Within Reference Ranges Among Hospitalized Patients Prescribed Antibiotics for Pneumonia
Abstract
Antibiotics are frequently prescribed for suspected pneumonia, but overdiagnosis is common and fixed regimens are often used despite randomized trials suggesting it is safe to stop antibiotics once clinical signs are normalizing. To quantify potential excess antibiotic prescribing by characterizing antibiotic use relative to patients' initial clinical signs and subsequent trajectories. An observational cohort study was conducted in 2 tertiary and 2 community hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts. All nonventilated adult patients admitted between May 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018 (194 521 hospitalizations), were included. Identification of all antibiotic starts for possible community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) or hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) per clinicians' stated indications. Potential excess antibiotic prescribing was quantified by characterizing the frequency of patients in whom all clinical signs were within reference ranges on the first day of antibiotic therapy and by how long antibiotic therapy was continued after all clinical signs were normal, including postdischarge antibiotics. Among 194 521 hospitalizations, 9540 patients were treated for possible CAP (4574 [48.0%] women; mean [SD] age, 67.6 [17.0] years) and 2733 for po...Continue Reading
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Antimicrobial Resistance (ASM)
Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to the continued successful use of antimicrobial agents for the treatment of bacterial infections.
Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to the continued successful use of antimicrobial agents for the treatment of bacterial infections.