An investigation into the compliance with antibiotic treatment guidelines in France: a preliminary study

To investigate the compliance to antibiotic treatment guidelines for all prescribers in the community setting.

A retrospective, preliminary study was performed by asking sixth year pharmacy students (n=55) to complete an online survey (Microsoft Forms®) for every antibiotic prescription that met the criteria and was dispensed during the data collection period. The data collected was patient characteristics, nature of the antibiotic, the dose, posology and duration prescribed, and the pathology that was indicated. It was then assessed using a binary classification system.

Overall adherence was poor, with 36.4% of prescriptions considered compliant with current guidelines. Secondary analysis was performed looking at adherence categorised by certain patient characteristics and by indication. Dosing errors were common for paediatric patients, accounting for over 70% of errors in that age group, and duration-related errors were common for adult patients and were the main error in over 80% of responses for adults.

Although prescribers generally demonstrated good knowledge of first-line antibiotic selection, overall adherence to current national prescribing guidelines remained suboptimal. The findings highlight the need for continued antimicrobial stewardship initiatives to support the implementation of updated recommendations and promote appropriate antibiotic use.