Infectious disease consultations and antibiotic usage in a Turkish university hospital.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate the various features of infectious disease (ID) consultations and the usage of antibiotics in a Turkish university hospital.


METHODS
A total of 395 consultation requests were recorded during a three-year period.


RESULTS
The departments most frequently requesting the consultation services of the ID department were Orthopedics (29.6%), Neurology (18.5%), Cardiology (11.8%) and Internal Medicine (10.4%). The main reasons were for diagnosis of unexplained fever (42.3%) and for antibiotic modification according to culture results (18%). Diagnoses made by the ID consultant were pneumonia (16.7%), urinary tract infections (9.3%), bone and joint prosthesis infections (9.1%) and in 15.7% of the investigated patients, no infectious focus was determined. It was recognized that the use of antibiotics had already been initiated in the great majority of patients (67.1%) before the consultation request. While the current therapy was changed in 57.4% of these patients, antibiotics were not necessary for 9.8%.


CONCLUSIONS
Since the most common diagnoses were respiratory and urinary tract or bone and joint prosthesis infections, the ID specialists should have detailed knowledge of these problems. Usage of antibiotics without ID consultation was prevalent, therefore a continuous educational program is a necessity for healthcare workers in the hospital.
Yapar
Nur
N
Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, 35340 Inciralti, Izmir, Turkey. nur.yapar@deu.edu.tr
Erdenizmenli
Mine
M
Oğuz
Vildan Avkan
VA
Kuruüzüm
Ziya
Z
Senger
Süheyla Serin
SS
Cakir
Nedim
N
Yüce
Ayşe
A
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003253:Consultants; D006748:Hospital Departments / Q000458:organization & administration; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000458:organization & administration; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D014421:Turkey
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents