Development and validation of potential structure indicators for evaluating antimicrobial stewardship programmes in...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Infectious Disease Control
• Clinical Pharmacy

Background:

• Hospital antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) are crucial for combating antimicrobial resistance.
• Standardized methods for assessing the structure and resources of ASPs are needed.
• Existing assessment tools may not fully capture the comprehensiveness and resource intensity of ASPs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and pilot-validate structure indicators for hospital antimicrobial stewardship programmes.
• To establish a minimal set of key indicators for rapid assessment of ASPs.
• To evaluate the comprehensiveness and resource intensity of ASPs in European hospitals.

Main Methods:

• A multi-disciplinary panel developed indicators through identification, multi-criteria scoring, and consensus meetings.
• A survey was administered to directors of ASPs in European hospitals.
• Indicator scores were calculated and analyzed from pilot data from 11 hospitals.

Main Results:

• A list of 58 structure indicators was selected, categorized into nine topics.
• A minimal set of ten key structure indicators was identified.
• Pilot validation in 11 hospitals showed significant heterogeneity in structural component scores.

Conclusions:

• The developed 58 structure indicators and the minimal set of 10 key indicators can assess ASP comprehensiveness and resource intensity.
• Significant variation exists in the structural components of effective antimicrobial stewardship programmes across European hospitals.
• These indicators provide a valuable tool for evaluating and improving hospital antimicrobial stewardship.