Antimicrobial stewardship in long-term care facilities

Although antimicrobial stewardship has been shown to improve microbiologic susceptibility patterns, decrease drug toxicities, and lower overall drug costs in the inpatient setting, there are few studies assessing programs in the long-term care (LTC) setting. Implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs in LTC settings can be challenging as the LTC setting houses a unique population of frail and older adults with several preexisting conditions and multiple risk factors for colonization with multidrug-resistant organisms. Antimicrobial stewardship has an important role in decreasing inappropriate antibiotic use, encouraging targeted treatment of specific disease states, and limiting the untoward effects and costs of antimicrobials in this vulnerable population.