Impact of antimicrobial stewardship managed by clinical pharmacists on antibiotic use and drug resistance in a Chinese hospital, 2010–2016: a retrospective observational study

OBJECTIVES: ‘National Special Stewardship in the Clinical Use of Antibiotics’ was put forward in July 2011 in China. We aimed to retrospectively evaluate the impact of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) managed by clinical pharmacists on antibiotic utilisation, prophylaxis and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). DESIGN: This was a retrospective observational study of trends in antibiotic use and AMR in the context of AMS. SETTING: Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, a 1400-bed tertiary hospital, in China. DATA AND PARTICIPANTS: Antibiotic prescriptions from 820 doctors included all outpatients (n=17 766 637) and inpatients (n=376 627) during 2010–2016. Bacterial resistance data were from all inpatients (n=350 699) during 2011–2016. INTERVENTIONS: Multiaspect intervention measures were implemented by clinical pharmacists (13 persons), for example, formulating the activity programme and performance management, advising on antibacterial prescriptions and training. OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportion of antibiotic prescriptions among outpatients and inpatients, intensity of consumption in defined daily dose (DDD)/100 bed-days, antibiotic prophylaxis in type I incision operations and resistance rates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: The proportion of antibiotic prescriptions decreased in outpatients (from 19.38% to 13.21%) and in inpatients (from 64.34% to 34.65%), the intensity of consumption dropped from 102.46 to 37.38 DDD/100 bed-days. The proportion of antibiotic prophylaxis decreased from 98.94% to 18.93%. The proportion of rational timing of initial dose increased from 71.11% to 96.74%, the proportion of rational duration rose from 2.84% to 42.63%. Time series analysis demonstrated the resistance rates of E. coli and P. aeruginosa to fluoroquinolones decreased, the incidence rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus also decreased, whereas the resistance rates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae to carbapenems increased. The antibiotic use was partly positively correlated with AMR. CONCLUSIONS: AMS had an important role in reducing antibiotic use and surgical antibiotic prophylaxis. The AMR was positively correlated with antibiotic consumption to some extent.