First international database of research teams in stability and compatibility of medications: An additional function in the Stabilis® database.

A new function on the international database Stabilis® has been created: a database of research teams involved in stability and compatibility studies of drugs. The first part is descriptive. For each team, the list of publications and of molecules studied can be edited. A search function can extract data by using different criteria like the drug, galenic form, pharmacological class, molecule form (small molecule, monoclonal antibody), country, author and years of publications. The second part of the new function is interactive and allows Stabilis® users to suggest stability studies. After examination by collaborators of Stabilis®, the suggestions are rejected, modified or accepted, published on the website and available for all research teams. The United States of America (USA) was the main country in the 1990s but today, Europe has 67 active teams which publish stability studies and 50 for USA. Europe is now the more active zone in term of number of publications. Antibiotics and cytotoxics are the main pharmacological classes studied. Monoclonal antibodies are studied by few teams due to the complexity of the methodology to study the stability of these drugs. This database can facilitate the communication between research teams and users.

[Good clinical practice in using antibiotics in the hospital. Current status in 207 public and private hospitals in 1999]. / Le bon usage des antibiotiques à l'hôpital. Etat des lieux dans 207 établissements de santé publics et privés en 1999.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to map activities developed in hospitals to monitor antibiotic usage and evaluate implementation of French guidelines for good clinical practice on use of antibiotics in the hospital setting. METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to the head of the pharmacy of 300 French hospitals. The questionnaire targeted methods developed to monitor antibiotic usage (antibiotic committees, local recommendations, types of prescription and dispensing, surveillance, information and evaluation activities). RESULTS: The response rate was 69% (207 answers). A local committee supervised antibiotic usage in 49% of the hospitals (nosocomial, drug or antibiotic committees). Local recommendations existed in 120 hospitals (59%) and 42% of the hospitals had a validation process before dispensing drug in accordance with the recommendations. Antibiotic prescription was nominal in 65% of the hospitals and specific monitoring was carried out in 42% of them. Antibiotic consumption was monitored in 80% of the hospitals and resistance was monitored in 53%. Twelve percent of the hospitals used an electronic network to share information on prescription and bacteriological results. Regular internal training existed in 20% of the hospitals and evaluation methods (medical audits, impact measures) in 14%. DISCUSSION: Careful monitoring of antibiotics is implemented in most hospitals. Strict application of guidelines, definition and implementation of indicators, and evaluation methods must be improved. Implementation of better hospital monitoring of antibiotics requires: i) a local consensus to limit the antibiotics available and guidelines to adapt to local infections; ii) dissemination of guidelines and training for prescribers; iii) implementation of a dispensing system to check the validity of prescriptions according to local guidelines; iv) implementation of indicators to monitor bacterial resistance and the volume of antibiotics used.