[Multicenter study of the variability and adequacy of antimicrobial therapy for community-acquired pneumonia in adults]
We performed a study to evaluate the variability and adequacy of prescribing antibiotics in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in 10 Spanish hospitals. We studied 452 patients with CAP. Initial empirical administration of antibiotics was prescribed in 90.7&#37; of the cases, 82.5&#37; as monotherapy. Macrolides and third and second generation cephalosporins were the most widely used groups of antibiotics. Penicillin and amoxicillin were only prescribed in 1.7&#37; of the patients. A significant variability between hospitals was observed. Reference patterns for the use of antibiotics in CAP were devised by a panel of experts. According to the recommendations of this panel, 29&#37; of the total prescriptions were not adequate, with this percentage reaching 65&#37; in outpatients older than 65 years or with comorbidity. This was mainly due to the fact that monotherapy with erythromycin, which was considered inadequate, was the most widely prescribed treatment.
Artero
A
Área de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Avda. Ramón y Cajal n(o) 7, 47005 Valladolid.
Eiros
JM
Ochoa
C
Inglada
L
Guerra
L
Armadans
L
Vallano
A
Vidal
JB
Martínez
A
Lázaro
A
Cerdá
T
Ruiz
A
Estudio multicéntrico de variabilidad e idoneidad de la prescripción antibiótica en la neumonía adquirida en la comunidad del adulto.