Hospitals may be able to boost antimicrobial stewardship and reduce the number of patients who start antimicrobial therapy by changing their urine culture ordering practices, according to a study published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
Researchers conducted the study at a 700-bed academic medical center, aggregating data from all adult patients admitted to the hospital's intensive care units during a pre-intervention period (from January to December 2012) and a post-intervention period (from January to December 2013).
Highlighted below are three things to know about the study.
1. The intervention implemented was a new protocol limiting the number of urine cultures ordered to cases in which pyuria — which is frequently associated with bacterial infection — was detected.
2. Results of the study indicated a decrease in the number of patients starting a new antimicrobial therapy based on urine culture results after the intervention was implemented, from 41 percent to 23 percent.
3. The researchers did not observe a statically significant difference in the average total days of antimicrobial therapy among patients after the intervention.
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