Impact of an antimicrobial stewardship in a 126-bed community hospital with close communication between pharmacists working on post-prescription audit, ward pharmacists, and the antimicrobial stewardship team

Satoshi Nakamura; Takashi Arima; Ryoichi Tashiro; Satomi Yasumizu; Hayato Aikou; Emi Watanabe; Takashi Nakashima; Yuho Nagatomo; Ikuyo Kakimoto; Toshiro Motoya

doi:10.1186/s40780-021-00206-x

Impact of an antimicrobial stewardship in a 126-bed community hospital with close communication between pharmacists working on post-prescription audit, ward pharmacists, and the antimicrobial stewardship team

J Pharm Health Care Sci. 2021 Aug 1;7(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s40780-021-00206-x.

Authors

Satoshi Nakamura^{1

2}, Takashi Arima^{1

3}, Ryoichi Tashiro^{1

4}, Satomi Yasumizu^{1

5}, Hayato Aikou², Emi Watanabe², Takashi Nakashima², Yuho Nagatomo², Ikuyo Kakimoto², Toshiro Motoya⁶

Affiliations

¹ Infection Control Team and Antimicrobial Stewardship Team, Tarumizu Chuo Hospital, Tarumizu Municipal Medical Center, Tarumizu, Japan.
² Division of Pharmacy, Tarumizu Chuo Hospital, Tarumizu Municipal Medical Center, Tarumizu, Japan.
³ Division of Urology, Tarumizu Chuo Hospital, Tarumizu Municipal Medical Center, Tarumizu, Japan.
⁴ Department of Nursing, Tarumizu Chuo Hospital, Tarumizu Municipal Medical Center, Tarumizu, Japan.
⁵ Division of Clinical Laboratory, Tarumizu Chuo Hospital, Tarumizu Municipal Medical Center, Tarumizu, Japan.
⁶ Division of Pharmacy, Tarumizu Chuo Hospital, Tarumizu Municipal Medical Center, Tarumizu, Japan. motoya@tarumizumh.jp.

Abstract

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship (AS) is defined as coordinated interventions to improve and measure the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents. However, available resources for AS differ depending on the size of the clinical setting. Therefore, AS programs based on guidelines need to be selected in order to implement AS in small- to medium-sized hospitals. The present study compared the impact of AS in a 126-bed community hospital between pre- and post-AS periods.

Methods: The present study was retrospectively performed by selecting data on eligible patients from electronic medical records stored in the central database of the hospital. The roles of the AS team included weekly rounds and recommendations on the appropriate use of antimicrobials, and pharmacists working on post-prescription audits and pharmaceutical care at the bedside closely communicated with the AS team to assist with its implementation. As process measurements, the order rate of culture examinations, the conducting rate of de-escalation, antimicrobial use density (AUD), days of therapy (DOT), and the AUD/DOT ratio of carbapenems and tazobactam-piperacillin (TAZ/PIPC) were measured. Thirty-day mortality and recurrence rates were examined as clinical outcomes.

Results: A total of 535 patients (288 in the pre-AS period and 247 in the post-AS period) were enrolled in the present study. The recommendation rate to prescribers significantly increased (p < 0.01) from 10.4% in the pre-AS period to 21.1% in the post-AS period. The order rate of culture examinations increased from 56.3 to 73.3% (p < 0.01). The conducting rate of de-escalation increased from 10.2 to 30.8% (p < 0.05). The AUD of carbapenems and TAZ/PIPC significantly decreased (p < 0.05). The DOT of carbapenems (p < 0.01) and TAZ/PIPC (p < 0.05) also significantly decreased. The AUD/DOT ratio of carbapenem significantly increased from 0.37 to 0.60 (p < 0.01). Thirty-day mortality rates were 11.2 and 14.2%, respectively, and were not significantly different. The 30-day recurrence rate significantly decreased (p < 0.05) from 14.7 to 7.5%.

Conclusions: The implementation of AS in this hospital improved the appropriate use of antimicrobials without negatively affecting clinical outcomes. These results may be attributed to close communication between pharmacists working on post-prescription audits and pharmaceutical care at the bedside and the AS team.

Keywords: 30-day mortality; 30-day recurrence rate; Antimicrobial stewardship; Antimicrobial stewardship team; Antimicrobial use density; Appropriate use of antimicrobials; Culture examination; Days of therapy; De-escalation; Pharmacist.