Objective: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of multiple interventions carried out during the implementation of a guide, on the improvement of the appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing in primary care.
Design: This is a cross-sectional before/after study carried out in Aljarafe Health Care Area (Andalusia, Spain), with a population of 368,728 inhabitants assisted in 37 health centers.
Subjects: Subjects include patients with antibiotic prescriptions during 2009 (pre-intervention phase) or 2012 (postintervention phase) selected by simple random sampling (confidence level, 95%; accuracy, 5%), with infections registered in the electronic clinical history.
Interventions: This study involve training sessions in primary care centers and hospital services, incorporation of the electronic guide to the Health Care Service Websites, and incorporation of the guide to the Digital Health History as a tool to support decision making.
Main outcome: Difference on appropriate antibiotic prescribing before and after interventions resulted from the study. Other variables also include age, gender, type of pharmacy, antibiotic prescribed, number of treatments per year, infection site, and main comorbidities
Sources: In addition, this study uses computerized pharmacy records of reimbursed and dispensed drugs and electronic medical histories.
Results: The percentage of appropriate antibiotic prescribing increased from 36% in 2009 to 57% in 2012 (p < 0.001) is shown. The improvement was observed in all age patients of any sex and was higher among working-age patients and patients with comorbidities. The best results were observed in the group of beta-lactams and in the treatment of respiratory and skin infections.
Conclusion: The realization of multifactorial interventions involving professionals from both levels of care could be an effective strategy to improve the use of antimicrobials in primary care.