Dipti Khatri1
1Centre for Health Services Research, University of Queensland, Queensland, d.khatri@uq.edu.au
Abstract:
Prevalence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) microorganisms and antimicrobial consumption is high in residential aged care facilities (RACFs), where empirical antibiotic prescribing is common. Sub-optimal empirical prescribing contributes to inappropriate antibiotic use, which is a key driver of AMR. Inappropriate empirical antibiotics may cause harm to patients, delay effective treatment, and promote the use of unnecessarily broad-spectrum antibiotics. Therefore, one goal of an antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) program is to establish appropriate empiric antibiotic recommendations for common infections. Antibiograms provide the prescriber with local resistance data which can guide empirical antibiotic choice. There is limited research exploring the role for antibiograms in RACFs, and challenges of obtaining and developing them for Australian RACFs were unknown prior to this research. Systematic review findings suggested that antibiograms are elements of effective antimicrobial stewardship interventions. RACF antibiograms were feasible by extending the time-period of the antibiograms to beyond 12 months or pooling antibiogram data from geographically united RACFs. While there was conflicting evidence for the use of local or regional hospital data, private pathology antibiograms originating from RACF residents may be an appropriate indicator of resistance patterns in RACFs.