The association of shorter turnaround time of bacterial testing and antibiotic use and costs in different sites of infection

• Main Authors: Chien Chih Tsai, 蔡建志
• Other Authors: J. T. Sheu
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/47519999704962260385

碩士 === 長庚大學 === 管理學院碩士學位學程在職專班醫務管理組 === 99 === Rapid bacterial identification and susceptibility testing can enable early correction of inappropriate antibiotic therapy. In recent years, the traditional manual testing methods have been replaced by automated microbiology system to shorten turnaround time in clinical laboratory. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of Phoneix system in reducing antibiotics use for hospitalized patients with bacterial infection and also to contrast its effectiveness on different sites of infection. Medical records from 812 patients were collected retrospectively and divided into the traditional group and instrument group. The results showed that the average turnaround time for the instrument group was 19.7 hours faster than the traditional group. Compared to the traditional group, the total antibiotic use for each patient in the instrument group was reduced by 2.01 defined daily dose (DDD), whereas antibiotic cost did not differ significantly between two groups. In terms of different sites of infection, the total antibiotic use and cost were reduced by 6.29 DDD and 8,096 NT dollars per patient with sterile body fluid infection in the instrument group. The total antibiotic use was reduced by 2.88 DDD per patient with urinary tract infection in the instrument group. Nevertheless, there was no statistically significant difference in antibiotic use and cost between two groups of patients with respiratory tract infection or with skin/ tissue infection. In conclusion, to shorten the turnaround time for bacterial testing can reduce the use of antibiotics in hospitalized patients with bacterial infection, but its effectiveness might vary across different sites of infection.