Five steps to high quality antimicrobial stewardship research

Bradley J Langford; Pamela Bailey; Daniel J Livorsi; Kevin A Brown; Sonali D Advani; Elizabeth Dodds Ashley; Gonzalo Bearman; Priya Nori

doi:10.1017/ash.2024.73

Five steps to high quality antimicrobial stewardship research

Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol. 2024 May 9;4(1):e82. doi: 10.1017/ash.2024.73. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Bradley J Langford^{1

2}, Pamela Bailey³, Daniel J Livorsi^{4

5}, Kevin A Brown^{1

2}, Sonali D Advani⁶, Elizabeth Dodds Ashley⁷, Gonzalo Bearman⁸, Priya Nori⁹

Affiliations

¹ Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Prisma Health, Columbia, SC, USA.
⁴ Center for Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE), Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Iowa City, IA, USA.
⁵ Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA.
⁶ Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, Duke University School of Medicine and Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention, Durham, NC, USA.
⁸ Healthcare Infection Prevention Program, Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA, USA.
⁹ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, USA.

Abstract

The escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) necessitates impactful, reproducible, and scalable antimicrobial stewardship strategies. This review addresses the critical need to enhance the quality of antimicrobial stewardship intervention research. We propose five considerations for authors planning and evaluating antimicrobial stewardship initiatives. Antimicrobial stewards should consider the following mnemonic ABCDE: (A) plan Ahead using implementation science; (B) Be clear and thoroughly describe the intervention by using the TidIER checklist; (C) Use a Checklist to comprehensively report study components; (D) Select a study Design carefully; and (E) Assess Effectiveness and implementation by selecting meaningful outcomes. Incorporating these recommendations will help strengthen the evidence base of antimicrobial stewardship literature and support optimal implementation of strategies to mitigate AMR.