Antimicrobial Stewardship Programmes in Saudi Hospitals: Evidence from a National Survey.

Saleh Alghamdi,Ilhem Berrou,Abdul Haseeb,Mohammad Albanghali,Nada Shebl,Mohamed Anwar Hammad,Alaa Mutlaq,Zoe Aslanpour

doi:10.3390/antibiotics10020193

Abstract

Saudi hospitals and healthcare facilities are facing increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance and the emergence of new multi-drug resistant strains. This is placing an unprecedented threat to successful treatments and outcomes of patients accessing those facilities. The inappropriate use of antimicrobials is fueling this crisis, warranting urgent implementation of interventions to preserve antimicrobials and reduce resistance rates. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) can improve antimicrobial use, treatment success rates and reduce the levels of antimicrobial resistance. The Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) devised a national antimicrobial stewardship plan to implement ASPs in hospitals, but little is known about the progress of implementation and the factors affecting it. This study aims to assess the level and the factors affecting the adoption and implementation of ASPs in Saudi hospitals at a national level. A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017 using an online questionnaire sent to all MOH hospitals. Overall, 147 out 247 MOH hospitals responded to the survey (54%). Only 26% of the hospitals reported the implementation of ASPs. Hospitals lack the knowledge, technological and staff resources to adopt and implement ASPs. Alternative models of ASP adoption could be explored to improve the rates of implementation of ASPs.

Highlights

Saudi Arabia is home to more than 10 million expatriates comprising more than 30%of the population, and an annual destination of more than 10 million people who travel from all parts of the world to Makkah and Medina for pilgrimage and Umrah [1]
The high prevalence of antimicrobial resistance is attributed to various factors, the most prominent of which are the misuse of antimicrobials [4,5], and the lack of antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) to ensure their judicious use [6,7,8]
Out of 274 Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals [16], 147 hospitals responded to the survey for an overall response rate of 53.6%

Summary

Introduction

Saudi Arabia is home to more than 10 million expatriates comprising more than 30%of the population, and an annual destination of more than 10 million people who travel from all parts of the world to Makkah and Medina for pilgrimage and Umrah [1]. Saudi Arabia is home to more than 10 million expatriates comprising more than 30%. Hospital-based programmes to improve antimicrobial use, optimise the treatment of infections and reduce adverse events associated with their use. These programmes can help increase infection cure rates, reduce treatment failures and increase the frequency of correct prescribing of antimicrobials for treatment and prophylaxis. They significantly reduce hospital rates of Clostridium difficile infections and antibiotic resistance [9].

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