Bacterial Infections
Conditions
Keywords
antibacterial agents, surgery, pharmacist, economics, pharmaceutical
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to establish the impact of a pharmacist's recommendations regarding choice, dosing and duration of antibiotic therapy on quality and cost of antibiotic treatment on surgical wards.
Detailed description
Inappropriate or incorrect use of antibacterials exerts selection pressure on pathogens potentiating emergence of resistance, puts patients at risk for unnecessary adverse drug reactions and potentially prolongs the length of stay in hospital thus increasing healthcare costs. In an effort to improve the quality of antibiotic drug therapy on surgical wards of a large university hospital, specific consulting by a clinical pharmacist was established. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of pharmaceutical consulting on the quality and costs of antibiotic use in surgical wards. Comparison: Within a control period the current pattern of antibiotic use is monitored. During the intervention period, the impact of the interventions made by the clinical pharmacist on antibiotic use is examined. One ward serves as a parallel control group; no intervention is being made on this ward throughout this study.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALpharmaceutical consulting
to measure if information and advice by a pharmacist has an impact on quality and quantity of prescribed antibacterials
Sponsors
Ludwig-Maximilians - University of Munich
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* female and male patients receiving antibiotics for a proven or suspected infection on designated surgical wards
Exclusion criteria
* patients under 18 * patients unable or unwilling to consent to their data being evaluated * patients receiving antibiotics perioperatively as prophylaxis * patients receiving antibiotics for less than 48hrs
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| overall duration of antibiotic therapy during study period | Feb 2008 |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| iv to oral switch | Feb 2008 | number of courses of iv antibiotics switched to oral antibiotics; duration of iv treatment |
| compliance of treatment with hospital formulary for antibiotic therapy | Feb 2008 | — |
| cost of antibiotic therapy | Feb 2008 | — |
| number and duration of therapy with antibiotics with redundant spectra | Feb 2008 | — |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed