Outpatient Pediatric Antibiotic Use: a Systematic Review

The majority of pediatric antibiotic use occurs in outpatients. However, the optimal strategies for antimicrobial stewardship in this setting are unknown. We sought to identify studies relevant to pediatric outpatient stewardship that have been published in the past decade. The details of this systemic review are presented along with targets for future stewardship efforts and discussion regarding effective outpatient stewardship strategies.

In 2016, the CDC released the "Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship" that serve as practical guidelines to develop impactful and sustainable ASP interventions: commitment, action for policy and practice, tracking and reporting, and education and expertise. However, there has not been a recent review of the primary medical literature on pediatric outpatient stewardship. A systematic review of pediatric antibiotic control strategies published in 2007 identified 28 studies overall, 8 of which focused on outpatients. Two subsequent systematic reviews published in 2015 and 2018 intentionally excluded outpatients. Outpatient settings are a crucial component of pediatric antimicrobial stewardship in the USA. Establishing effective stewardship interventions can protect children and optimize clinical outcomes in outpatient healthcare settings. Based on our review of the literature, it is clear that the optimal outpatient stewardship strategies remain to be elucidated. However, there is robust literature describing variability in outpatient antibiotic prescribing that can be used to target interventions.