ANTIBACDUS-PAN: Antibacterial Utilization among Adult Patients Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic within 12-Months...

Irrational use of antibacterials is a concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospital pharmacoepidemiology studies are important for evaluating the rational use of medicines, especially antibacterials, during pandemics. Defined daily doses (DDD) and drug utilization 90% (DU90%) are established methods for the evaluation of drug utilization. We aimed to evaluate antibacterial utilization in a tertiary hospital setting at Koç University Hospital (KUH).

This cross-sectional, descriptive study was retrospectively conducted with data extracted from KUH Inpatient Electronic Order System (CP) and was carried out for a period of one year. Antibacterial utilization of adult (aged ≥ 18 years) inpatients, who were prescribed at least one type of systemic antibacterial (ATC code J01), was evaluated using the recommended parameter DDD/100 admission and compared between 6 months before COVID-19 and during COVID-19 periods. March 11, 2020, the very first COVID-19 diagnosed case in Turkey, was set as the cutoff date of the 6-month period for the selection of the compared antibacterials using the DU90% method.

Finally, 3280 of 5942 and 2605 of 4942 prescriptions for pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods were included, respectively. Antibacterial utilization according to DDD/100 admissions increased from 193.96 to 201.26 DDD/100 admissions after the initiation of COVID-19 pandemic. The most utilized antibacterials were piperacillin and enzyme inhibitors in pre-COVID-19 period, whereas meropenem was utilized the most during COVID-19 period. Azithromycin utilization increased by 656.24%, whereas clarithromycin utilization decreased by 52.12%. Antibacterials were utilized most in general surgery department, with an increase of 17.57%.

There is an increase in antibacterial utilization in KUH during COVID-19 pandemic, especially reserved antibacterials, which is a concern for antibacterial resistance.