Antibiotic utilization within 18 community hospitals in the United States: A 5-year analysis

Abstract

Background: Antibiotic overuse is associated with antibiotic resistance. We evaluated antibiotic utilization defined by days of therapy/1000 patient days (DOT/1000 PD) in various community hospitals across the United States.

Methods: Community hospitals within the Cardinal Health Drug Cost Opportunity Analytics database were evaluated for the availability of DOT/1000 PD data between 2012 to 2016 for overall and specific antibiotic use and the following classes: narrow-spectrum β-lactams (ampicillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, cefazolin, and cephalexin), non-carbapenem antipseudomonal β-lactams (piperacillin/tazobactam, ceftazidime, and cefepime), carbapenems, anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus agents (vancomycin, linezolid, daptomycin, and tigecycline), and fluoroquinolones. Antibiotic utilization and change in utilization during the study period was calculated using linear regression (β coefficient).

Results: Eighteen hospitals had antibiotic utilization data available. Hospitals were primarily urban (72%) with an average of 209 total beds and 22 intensive care unit beds. Mean number of pharmacists in these hospitals was nine with a mean pharmacist: bed ratio of 0.05. While all hospitals had antimicrobial stewardship programs established during the study period, only 78% and 22% had infectious diseases (ID) physician and ID pharmacist on staff, respectively. A decrease in antipseudomonal β-lactams (excluding carbapenems) and fluoroquinolones was observed (β coefficients = -1.2 and -2.6, respectively), all other antibiotic classes had increased utilization.

Conclusion: Overall antibiotic utilization increased over 5 years. The increase in narrow-spectrum β-lactams utilization along with the reduction in the use of antipseudomonal β-lactams and fluoroquinolones indicate appropriate antimicrobial stewardship. Institutional antibiotic utilization should be evaluated for appropriateness to limit the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics in an effort to reduce resistance development.

Keywords: antibiotics; community hospitals; pharmacoepidemiology; stewardship; utilization.