Antimicrobial Justification form for Restricting Antibiotic Use in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Clinical Pharmacy
• Antimicrobial Stewardship

Background:

• Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global health threat.
• Restricted antimicrobials require careful prescribing to preserve efficacy.
• Monitoring antimicrobial usage is crucial for stewardship programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an antimicrobial justification form on clinician prescribing habits.
• To determine if the form deters the use of restricted antimicrobials.
• To assess the effect of the form on antibiotic de-escalation.

Main Methods:

• Clinicians completed a justification form for prescribing restricted antimicrobials.
• Antimicrobial usage was compared between a pre-intervention and post-intervention year.
• The study focused on a pre-identified group of restricted antimicrobials.

Main Results:

• Overall antimicrobial usage decreased from 40.5% to 34.6% post-intervention.
• A significant increase in antibiotic de-escalation was observed.
• The justification form was associated with reduced prescribing of restricted antimicrobials.

Conclusions:

• An antimicrobial justification form effectively deters the prescription of restricted antimicrobials.
• This intervention supports antibiotic de-escalation and antimicrobial stewardship.
• Implementing justification forms is a valuable strategy for antimicrobial restriction.