title: Appropriate antibiotic use according to diagnoses and bacteriological findings: report of 12 point-prevalence studies on antibiotic use in a university hospital.
abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate antibiotic use in relation to diagnoses and bacteriological findings in a 600-bed Norwegian university hospital. Twelve point-prevalence studies of antibiotic use were conducted between 1996 and 1999. In the point-prevalence studies, 1,096 of 6,588 adult patients (16.6%) used on average 1.25 antibiotics each. Of the patients who received antibiotics, 35% were treated for hospital-acquired infections. Lower respiratory tract and urinary tract infections accounted for more than half of all antibiotic use. Pencillins represented 54% of antibiotic use, cephalosporins 9%, quinolones 6% and antifungal agents 0.7%. The prescribed daily doses for the penicillins were 2-3 times higher than the defined daily doses. Bacteriological samples were obtained from 929 (85%) patients. Compliance with the guidelines was > 90% and was highest when the results of bacteriological samples were positive. Good compliance led to low prevalence of antibiotic use and the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Microbiology, Aker University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Dag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berild
authors.forename: Signe Holta
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ringertz
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lelek
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents