2031. Impact of Education and Antibiotic Guidelines on Dispensing Antibiotics with Community Pharmacists in a Low- and Middle-Income Country

BACKGROUND: Non-prescription use of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries has contributed to significant antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Henry Ford Health System has partnered with multinational organizations in Nepal to address the need for increasing awareness of AMR and implementation of effective antimicrobial stewardship. This partnership confirmed the importance of increasing knowledge and awareness regarding AMR and antibiotic use to community pharmacists. The present pilot study assessed if outpatient antibiotic dispensing guidelines given to community pharmacists could result in a reduction of unneeded antibiotic use. METHODS: Nine community pharmacies from Kathmandu were selected of which two were used as controls. Seven pharmacists were educated on the appropriate use of antibiotics, and outpatient dispensing before and after guidelines at all pharmacies were evaluated. The pharmacists were given guidelines on antibiotic use and duration needed for common bacterial infections encountered. Controls were not given guidelines. At baseline and post-intervention (1 week), pill counts were performed of the top six antibiotics that were dispensed by the pharmacist. Pharmacists were requested to keep a log of how many antibiotics were dispensed for one week. The pharmacists also were requested to fill out a post-intervention educational assessment to evaluate retention. RESULTS: Pill count pre-intervention was 15,856 and 1512 and post-intervention was 11,168 and 1,440 in the intervention and control groups respectively (Table 1). A post-intervention educational assessment revealed that both the intervention and control groups believed antibiotics can treat viruses (57% vs. 50%) and that antibiotics do not kill good bacteria that protect the body from infection (57% vs. 50%) (Table 2). CONCLUSION: There was no difference in the dispensing of antibiotics between pre- and post-intervention. The findings of this study show significant room for improvement in continuing education about antibiotic use in outpatient pharmacies. Further studies are needed to target outpatient antibiotic dispensing with education and identifying economic or other incentives in hopes of reducing the burden of AMR in low- and middle-income countries. [Image: see text] [Image: see text] [Image: see text] DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.