Prevalence of antibiotic allergy labels and their consequences in people presenting to a teaching hospital Emergency Department; a retrospective chart review.

Abstract

Antibiotic allergy labels have a direct impact on individual patient care and on the consumption of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Our aim was to establish the prevalence of antibiotic allergies and to determine whether patients with documented antibiotic allergy labels received guideline concordant antimicrobial therapy. Additionally we wanted to evaluate the quality of allergy documentation in the medical record. Prospective audit of all patients presenting to the Emergency Department of an adult teaching hospital in Sydney over a 4 month period. Documented allergy labels, diagnoses, antibiotic administration and outcomes were recorded. Appropriateness of antibiotic choice was based on the Australian National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey. 9.9% of presentations had at least one antibiotic allergy recorded. Significantly more women than men had antibiotic allergies documented. One third of patients with documented antibiotic allergies were prescibed inappropriate antibiotic therapy and some had significant adverse events. The documentation of antibiotic allergy labels and choice of antibiotic treatment can be significantly improved. Strategies to safely de-label people with documented allergies who are not truly allergic need to be implemented.