HealthDay News — According to a new federal report from JAMA Internal Medicine, between 2006 and 2012, US hospitals are still over-prescribing antibiotics despite a growing concern of drug-resistant bacteria.
James Baggs, PhD, an epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues used information from a database that includes about 300 hospitals and more than 34 million patients.
Over the time period of 2006 to 2012, 55.1% of patients received at least 1 dose of antibiotic during their hospital stay, whether it was needed or not.
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Although the use of antibiotics remained about the same during the study period, a significant increase was seen in the use of newer antibiotics.
“Antibiotic use remains common, and use of the most powerful antibiotics is rising,” Baggs told HealthDay. “Because inappropriate antibiotic use increases the risk of antibiotic resistance and other side effects, continued monitoring of antibiotic use is critical to future improvements in patient safety.”
References
Baggs J, Fridkin SK, Pollack LA, Srinivasan A, Jernigan JA. Estimating National Trends in Inpatient Antibiotic Use Among US Hospitals From 2006 to 2012. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 September 19. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed. 2016.5651. [Epub ahead of print]
Mehrotra A, Linder JA. Tipping the Balance Toward Fewer Antibiotics. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 September 19. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.6254. [Epub ahead of print]
