Half of Prescribed Antibiotics Are Not Needed: A Pharmacist-Led Antimicrobial Stewardship Intervention and Clinical Outcomes in a Referral Hospital in Ethiopia.

Intense antibiotic consumption in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) is fueled by critical gaps in laboratory infrastructure and entrenched syndromic management of infectious syndromes. Few data inform the achievability and impact of antimicrobial stewardship interventions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of a pharmacist-led laboratory-supported intervention at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and report on antimicrobial use and clinical outcomes associated with the intervention. Methods: This was a single-center prospective quasi-experimental study conducted in two phases: (i) an intervention phase (November 2017 to August 2018), during which we implemented weekly audit and immediate (verbal and written) feedback sessions on antibiotic prescriptions of patients admitted in 2 pediatric and 2 adult medicine wards, and (ii) a post-intervention phase (September 2018 to January 2019) during which we audited antibiotic prescriptions but provided no feedback to the treating teams. The intervention was conducted by an AMS team consisting of 4 clinical pharmacists (one trained in AMS) and one ID specialist. Our primary outcome was antimicrobial utilization (measured as days of therapy (DOT) per 1,000 patient-days and duration of antibiotic treatment courses); secondary outcomes were length of hospital stay and in-hospital all-cause mortality. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to explore factors associated with all-cause in-hospital mortality. Results: We collected data on 1,109 individual patients (707 during the intervention and 402 in the post-intervention periods). Ceftriaxone, vancomycin, cefepime, meropenem, and metronidazole were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics; 96% of the recommendations made by the AMS team were accepted. The AMS team recommended to discontinue antibiotic therapy in 54% of cases during the intervention period. Once the intervention ceased, total antimicrobial use increased by 51.6% and mean duration of treatment by 4.1 days/patient. Mean LOS stay as well as crude mortality also increased significantly in the post-intervention phase (LOS: 24.1 days vs. 19.8 days; in hospital death 14.7 vs. 6.9%). The difference in mortality remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusions: A pharmacist-led AMS intervention focused on duration of antibiotic treatment was feasible and had good acceptability in our setting. Cessation of audit-feedback activities was associated with immediate and sustained increases in antibiotic consumption reflecting a rapid return to baseline (pre-intervention) prescribing practices, and worse clinical outcomes (increased length of stay and in-hospital mortality). Pharmacist-led audit-feedback activities can effectively reduce antimicrobial consumption and result in better-quality care, but require organizational leadership's commitment for sustainable benefits.

Prevalence and determinants of non-adherence to Imatinib in the first 3-months treatment among newly diagnosed Ethiopian's with chronic myeloid leukemia.

OBJECTIVES: Imatinib has shown to be highly efficacious in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) but continuous dosing and patient adherence is essential treatment success. The study aimed to assess prevalence and reasons for non-adherence to Imatinib in newly diagnosed patients with CML in the first 3-months of treatment. METHODS: The study was conducted from October 1, 2016 to November 30, 2017 at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A total of 147 newly diagnosed patients were followed and their adherence status was determined using the 8-items Morisky Medication Adherence Scale and reasons for their non-adherence were evaluated using semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data while multivariable logistic regression was employed to explore associations among variables of interest. RESULTS: Participants' median age at time of confirmed diagnosis was 36 years; with most of them in the age group of <40 years (64.6%). Males comprised 59.2%. Adherence rate was found to be 55.1%. Those who lived in rural area, had low income, adverse drug events and comorbidity were significantly associated with treatment non-adherence. Most (68.4%) patients missed their medication due to adverse drug events. Three patients were lost-to-follow-up. Among 144 patients who finished the 3-month follow-up, 91.7% of them achieved complete hematologic remission. Morisky high adherent (AOR = 8.6, 95%CI:4.32-11.1) was positively associated with complete hematologic remission. CONCLUSIONS: Overall treatment adherence is suboptimal. Thus, efforts should be made to improve adherence and further study is required to explore impact adherence on the cytogenetic and molecular responses of Ethiopian patients with CML.