Evaluation of duration of antibiotic therapy across hospitals in Scotland including the impact of COVID-19 pandemic: a segmented interrupted time series analysis.
Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther
; 21(4): 455-475, 2023 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2242400
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Little is known about the duration of antibiotic use in hospital settings. We evaluated the duration of hospital antibiotic therapy for four commonly prescribed antibiotics (amoxicillin, co-amoxiclav, doxycycline, and flucloxacillin) including the assessment of COVID-19 impact.METHODS:
A repeated, cross-sectional study using the Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration system (January/2019-March/2022). Monthly median duration of therapy/duration categories was calculated, stratified by routes of administration, age, and sex. The impact of COVID-19 was assessed using segmented time-series analysis.RESULTS:
There were significant variations in the median duration of therapy across routes of administration (P < 0.05), with the highest value among those antibiotic courses composed of both oral and IV antibiotics ('Both' group). Significantly higher proportions of prescriptions within the 'Both' group had a duration of >7 days compared to oral or IV. The duration of therapy differed significantly by age. Some small statistically significant changes in the level/trends of duration of therapy were observed in the post-COVID-19 period.CONCLUSIONS:
No evidence for prolonged duration of therapy were observed, even during COVID-19 pandemic. The duration of IV therapy was relatively short, suggesting timely clinical review and consideration of IV to oral switch. Longer duration of therapy was observed among older patients.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther
Journal subject:
Communicable Diseases
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
14787210.2023.2181789
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS