Prevalence of antimicrobial use in a tertiary academic hospital: a venue for antimicrobial stewardship programs

Objective: To quantify antimicrobial use in inpatients setting as part of antimicrobial stewardship program surveillance. Method: Antimicrobial use was obtained using a pre-designed data collection form in this point prevalence study. Setting: The study was conducted in a tertiary academic hospital in the North of Jordan on 13 August 2018. Main outcome measures: antimicrobial use was determined using two methods: defined daily use (DDD) and days of therapy (DOT). Results: This study identified antimicrobial use in 144 patients. Carbapenems, glycopeptides, and piperacillin-tazobactam were the most utilized antimicrobials in the inpatients' setting in both measures DDD and DOT. The highest prescription rate of antibiotics was in the internal medicine wards (49.8 DDD/100 admissions), followed by surgery wards (33.2 DDD/100 admissions) and intensive care unit (20.6 DDD/100 admissions). Conclusion: This surveillance study addressed patterns of antimicrobial usage in inpatients settings in a tertiary care hospital in Jordan. This practice is feasible and could be adopted routinely by antimicrobial stewardship programs.