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Investigation of antimicrobial use at a tertiary care hospital in Southern Punjab, Pakistan using WHO methodology

Overview of attention for article published in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, April 2017
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Title
Investigation of antimicrobial use at a tertiary care hospital in Southern Punjab, Pakistan using WHO methodology
Published in
Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, April 2017
DOI 10.1186/s13756-017-0199-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

Muhammad Atif, Muhammad Azeem, Anum Saqib, Shane Scahill

Abstract

Globally, between 20 to 50% of antimicrobial consumption is inappropriate, causing significant impact on the quality of care, cost of therapy and incidence of adverse drug reactions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prescribing patterns and utilization of antimicrobials in ten selected wards at Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH), Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan. A descriptive cross-sectional study was designed using the World Health Organization (WHO) indicators for antimicrobial use. Standard data collection forms were used in ten wards and the Pharmacy Department at BVH. Antimicrobial utilization patterns in terms of frequency and percentage were also determined. Systematic random sampling techniques were used to collect data from 1,000 prescription records out of 21,115 prescriptions written for the six months January to June 2016. For the hospital indicators, a formulary list or essential medicines list (FL/EML) was available, but standard treatment guidelines (STGs) for infectious diseases was not. The average number of days that key antimicrobials were out of stock was 3.3 days per month. The expenditure on antimicrobials as a percentage of the total medicines costs was 12.2%. For the prescribing indicators, the percentage of hospitalizations with antimicrobial(s) prescribed was 82.3%, and the average number of antimicrobials per hospitalization was 1.4 (SD = 0.6). The average duration of antimicrobial treatment per hospitalization was 5.4 days (SD = 3.2). The average cost of antimicrobials prescribed per hospitalization was USD 5.4 (SD = 6.7). None of the patients who were prescribed antimicrobials, received AM according to the STGs (pneumonia and cesarean section cases). Among the patient-care and supplemental indicators, the average duration of hospital stay of patients who received antimicrobials was 6.4 (SD = 4.3) days. The drug sensitivity testing was almost non-existent, with only 0.24% prescription records having drug sensitivity tests. Ceftriaxone (39.6%), metronidazole (23.4%) and cefotaxime (23.1%) were the top most frequently prescribed antimicrobials. The results of the current study revealed less than optimal antimicrobial prescribing and utilization patterns of selected wards at BVH. Continuous education and training of physicians, and cost-effective policies could play an important role in promoting the rational use of antimicrobials in this setting.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 140 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 140 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 34 24%
Student > Bachelor 17 12%
Researcher 11 8%
Student > Postgraduate 8 6%
Lecturer 7 5%
Other 26 19%
Unknown 37 26%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 33 24%
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science 31 22%
Nursing and Health Professions 9 6%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 7 5%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 3 2%
Other 16 11%
Unknown 41 29%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 August 2017.
All research outputs
#15,115,997
of 24,003,070 outputs
Outputs from Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control
#963
of 1,347 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#176,736
of 313,756 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control
#28
of 31 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,003,070 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,347 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 15.6. This one is in the 24th percentile – i.e., 24% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 313,756 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 40th percentile – i.e., 40% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 31 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 9th percentile – i.e., 9% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.