Antibiotic stewardship programs in children's hospitals effective

(HealthDay)—Formalized antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) effectively reduce antibiotic prescribing in children's hospitals, according to research published online Dec. 8 in Pediatrics.

Adam L. Hersh, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and colleagues examined the impact of formalized ASPs on antibiotic prescribing over time in a group of 31 children's hospitals. Of these, nine had formalized ASPs and 22 control hospitals were without formalized stewardship programs. The difference in average antibiotic use was compared for all hospitals from 2004 to 2012, before and after release of the 2007 guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America for developing ASPs.

The researchers found that, in aggregate, there was a larger decline in average antibiotic use in hospitals with formalized ASPs versus those without formalized programs from 2007 to 2012 (11 versus 8 percent; P = 0.04), compared with the years preceding the guidelines. Relative to the preimplementation period, eight of nine hospitals with formalized ASPs had reductions in antibiotic use, with a 5.7 percent average monthly decline in days of therapy/1,000 patient-days. The average monthly decline was 8.2 percent for the select subset of antibiotics.

"This multicenter study strengthens recommendations for universal implementation of ASPs in acute care hospitals," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to Pfizer for a grant to study antimicrobial stewardship.

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