Abstract
Since 2014, several global and national guidelines have been introduced to address the problem of antimicrobial resistance. We conducted a campaign in a tertiary hospital to promote appropriate quinolone use through educational lectures in 2018. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the changes in the following: prescription characteristics, trend of oral quinolone use, and antibiotic susceptibility of bacteria from 2013 to 2020. Antimicrobial use was assessed as days of therapy per 1000 patient-days. We found a significant reduction in unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions between December 2013 and December 2020. Significant negative trends were detected in the use of quinolones over 8 years (outpatients, coefficient = −0.15655, p < 0.001; inpatients, coefficient = −0.004825, p = 0.0016). In particular, the monthly mean use of quinolones among outpatients significantly decreased by 11% from 2013 to 2014 (p < 0.05) and reduced further by 31% from 2017 to 2020 (p < 0.001). A significant positive trend was observed in the susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to levofloxacin (p < 0.001). These results demonstrate that the use of oral quinolones was further reduced following educational intervention and the bacterial susceptibility improved with optimal quinolone usage compared to that in 2013.
Highlights
The spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens leads to serious health threats that affect clinical outcomes, including higher mortality rates and increased healthcare costs
These results show that oral quinolone use was further reduced after educational intervention, and the susceptibility to P. aeruginosa increased with optimal quinolone usage compared to that noted in 2013
We investigated the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa, E. coli and K. pneumoniae because these bacteria have high antimicrobial resistance patterns and are commonly detected as sources of community and hospital infections
Summary
The spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens leads to serious health threats that affect clinical outcomes, including higher mortality rates and increased healthcare costs. 10 million deaths each year by 2050 [1]. Since 2014, the World Health Organization, European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States have submitted strategic action plans to tackle the increasing challenge of antimicrobial resistance [2,3,4]. In accordance with these guidelines, the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance was formulated in. By 50% by the year 2020 [5]. To address this objective, in June 2017 and December 2019, the
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
