A modified method for measuring antibiotic use in healthcare settings: implications for antibiotic stewardship and benchmarking.

Objectives: To determine whether adjusting the denominator of the common hospital antibiotic use measurement unit (defined daily doses/100 bed-days) by including age-adjusted comorbidity score (100 bed-days/age-adjusted comorbidity score) would result in more accurate and meaningful assessment of hospital antibiotic use.

Methods: The association between the monthly sum of age-adjusted comorbidity and monthly antibiotic use was measured using time-series analysis (January 2008 to June 2012). For the purposes of conducting internal benchmarking, two antibiotic usage datasets were constructed, i.

An evaluation of the impact of antibiotic stewardship on reducing the use of high-risk antibiotics and its effect on the incidence of Clostridium difficile infection in hospital settings.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a high-risk antibiotic stewardship programme on reducing antibiotic use and on hospital Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) incidence rates. A secondary objective was to present the possible utility of time-series analysis as an antibiotic risk classification tool.

Methods: This was an interventional, retrospective, ecological investigation in a medium-sized hospital over 6.

Multihospital outbreak of Clostridium difficile ribotype 027 infection: epidemiology and analysis of control measures.

Objective: To report a large outbreak of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI; ribotype 027) between June 2007 and August 2008, describe infection control measures, and evaluate the impact of restricting the use of fluoroquinolones in controlling the outbreak.

Design: Outbreak investigation in 3 acute care hospitals of the Northern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland.

Interventions: Implementation of a series of CDI control measures that targeted high-risk antibiotic agents (ie, restriction of fluoroquinolones), infection control practices, and environmental hygiene.

A point prevalence survey of antibiotic prescriptions: benchmarking and patterns of use.

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess current patterns of antibiotic prescribing and the impact of a hospital antibiotic policy on these practices.

Methods: The study involved collecting information regarding hospitalized patients utilizing the ESAC audit tool.

Results: In the study site hospital, the use of the restricted agents was low whilst the use of the non-restricted agents was high.

Modelling the impact of antibiotic use and infection control practices on the incidence of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a time-series analysis.

Objectives: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major nosocomial pathogen worldwide. A wide range of factors have been suggested to influence the spread of MRSA. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of antimicrobial drug use and infection control practices on nosocomial MRSA incidence in a 426-bed general teaching hospital in Northern Ireland.