title: Infectious disease consultations and antibiotic usage in a Turkish university hospital.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, 35340 Inciralti, Izmir, Turkey. nur.yapar@deu.edu.tr
authors.forename: Nur
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yapar
authors.forename: Mine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erdenizmenli
authors.forename: Vildan Avkan
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Oğuz
authors.forename: Ziya
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kuruüzüm
authors.forename: Süheyla Serin
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Senger
authors.forename: Nedim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cakir
authors.forename: Ayşe
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yüce
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents