The implementation of a resident safety program is effective in reducing unnecessary antibiotic use in long-term care facilities, a study published in JAMA Network Open found.
The study, published Feb. 28, sought to assess whether use of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's safety program for improving antibiotic use, would reduce antibiotic use in long-term care settings. Program training ran from December 2018 to November 2019, with researchers measuring changes in antibiotic use and process measures.
Key findings:
- Of the 523 facilities included, 439 completed the full program and saw decreases per 1,000 resident days for the number of antibiotic treatment courses started and length of therapy.
- There was a significant reduction in antibiotic days of therapy for oral antibiotics but not in intravenous antibiotics across the entire cohort.
- The number of urine cultures per 1,000 resident-days decreased from 3.0 to 2.6 between January 2019 and December 2019.
- There was no statistically significant change in the number of facility-onset C.difficile events per 10,000 resident-days.