ABSTRACT
The rising threat of antibiotic resistance is linked to patterns of antibiotic use in hospital settings where global efforts are undertaken to encourage reporting and benchmarking antibiotic consumption in an attempt to improve prescription regimens. In Lebanon, where data concerning the level of antibiotic consumption in hospitals is scarce, the aim of our paper is to track the intensity of antibiotic consumption in order to identify potential evidence of antibiotic misuse or abuse. The study is conducted in 2012 for a period of 12-month using data from pharmacy records in 27 non-teaching Lebanese hospitals according to the Anatomical, Therapeutic and chemical classification system and Defined Daily Dose [ATC/DDD] recommended by the World Health Organization and compiling data on ABC Calc software version 3.1. Results show that the average antibiotic consumption excluding pediatric cases is 72.56 Defined Daily Dose per 100 Bed-Days [DDD/100BD]. Total broad spectrum antibiotic consumption is 12.14 DDD/100BD with no significant difference found between public and private hospitals [p > 0.05 for all]. The most commonly used antibiotics were Amoxycillin/Clavulanic acid, Ceftriaxone, Amoxycillin and Cefuroxime for parenteral use. Consumption of beta-lactams, Cephalosporins, Carbapenems, Monobactams and quinolones did not vary significantly by region, occupancy rate, number of beds including the number of intensive care unit beds. Our data findings provides baseline information on patterns of antibiotic consumption in Lebanon and the issue calls for concerted efforts to encourage data reporting on national basis and to correlate future findings with results of antibiotic susceptibility testing which can provide insights and tools needed to assess the public health consequences of antimicrobial misuse and to evaluate the impact of antibiotic resistance containment interventions