Hospital antibiotic management in Austria--results of the ABS maturity survey of the ABS International group.
BACKGROUND
The ABS International group conducted a survey to estimate the prevalence and characteristics of country-specific hospital antibiotic management programs. This paper summarizes the results for Austria.


METHODS
The survey was conducted in April and May 2007. A questionnaire with various items related to hospital antibiotic management was sent to 160 Austrian hospitals.


RESULTS
Of 160 questionnaires sent, 80 were returned and evaluable. The mean total score for all items and all hospitals was 3.29 (median: 3.42; range 1.35-4.74). The larger the hospital the higher were the reported scores concerning diagnostics, antibiotic-related organization and antibiotic-consumption control, but the lower the scores for antibiotic-related personnel development and antibiotic-related relationships to relevant environments. The maturity figure for large hospitals (>500 beds) was 3.57, for medium hospitals 3.34, and for small hospitals (<200 beds) 3.01.


CONCLUSIONS
The self-reported results of our questionnaire-based survey clearly show that there is still need for improvement. In all five categories surveyed, Austrian hospitals scored their antibiotic maturity lower than the international averages. The establishment of an antibiotic officer enables the development of antibiotic stewardship tools such as antibiotic lists. Such tools can be seen as quality indicators.
Medizinische Universität Wien, and Donauspital im Soxialmedizinischen Zentrum Ost, Vienna, Austria. heinz.burgmann@meduniwien.ac.at
Heinz
H
Burgmann
Oskar
O
Janata
Franz
F
Allerberger
Annegret
A
Frank
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents