Perception, Attitude, and Confidence of Physicians About Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Prescribing Among COVID-19 Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study From Punjab, Pakistan

Background: Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) could experience multiple coinfections, and judicial antimicrobials, including antibiotics, is paramount to treat these coinfections. This study evaluated physicians’ perception, attitude, and confidence about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial prescribing in patients with COVID-19.Methods: A self-administered and validated online questionnaire comprised of six sections was disseminated among physicians working in public sector hospitals in Punjab, Pakistan, using the convenience sampling method from April to May 2021. The study also assessed the validity and reliability of the study questionnaire using exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha. In addition, the descriptive and inferential statistics present survey results.Results: A total of 387 physicians participated in this study. The study showed that the questionnaire demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.77). Most physicians (n = 221, 57.1%) believed that AMR is a considerable problem in Pakistan. Less than a quarter of respondents (n = 91, 23.5%) consulted with local antibiotic resistance data to prescribe antibiotics in COVID-19 patients. However, the respondents were confident to select a suitable antibiotic (n = 229, 59.2%). More than three-quarters of the respondents believed that advice from a senior colleague (n = 336, 86.8%), infectious disease (ID) physician (n = 315, 81.4%), and implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) could facilitate appropriate prescribing of antibiotics in COVID-19 patients. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that physicians with more than 10 years of experience had higher odds of consulting local guidelines for antibiotic therapy (OR, 4.71 95% CI: 1.62–13.73, p = 0.004) than physicians with less than 5 years of experience. Similar trends were found for consulting national guidelines and local resistance data to select an empiric antibiotic therapy.Conclusion: AMR-related awareness was optimal among physicians. Only a few physicians looked up local antibiotic resistance data before prescribing antibiotics to COVID-19 patients empirically. The significant approaches advised by physicians to reduce AMR risk among COVID-19 patients were the implementation of ASPs combined with advice from ID physicians.

Point Prevalence Survey of Antimicrobial Utilization in Ghana’s Premier Hospital: Implications for Antimicrobial Stewardship

The first comprehensive point prevalence survey at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) was performed as part of the 2019 Global Point Prevalence Survey (Global-PPS) on antimicrobials. The aim was to establish a PPS baseline for the whole hospital and to identify required stewardship interventions. The PPS was conducted over three days in June 2019 using the GLOBAL-PPS standardized method for surveillance of antimicrobial utilization in hospitals to evaluate antimicrobial prescribing. In all, 988 patients were admitted to 69 wards. Overall antimicrobial prevalence was 53.3%. More community-acquired infections (CAI) were treated empirically compared to health-care associated infections (94.0% vs. 86.1% respectively, p = 0.002). Main indications for prescribing antimicrobials were pneumonia (18.4%), skin and soft tissue infections (11.4%) and sepsis (11.1%). Among antimicrobials, systemic antibiotics accounted for 83.5%, of which amoxicillin with beta-lactam inhibitor (17.5%), metronidazole (11.8%) and ceftriaxone (11.5%) dominated. Guideline compliance was 89.0%. Stop/review dates were completed in 33.4% and documented reason was recorded in 53.0% of all prescriptions. If the findings in this PPS can be addressed antimicrobial stewardship at the KBTH stands to improve significantly.

159. Characterization of Suboptimal Discharge Antimicrobial Prescriptions and Effect of Inpatient Audit and Feedback on Quality of Antimicrobial Prescribing

Background Approximately 30% of children are discharged from the hospital with an antimicrobial prescription; nearly a third of these prescriptions are suboptimal. Although the best approach to antimicrobial stewardship of discharge prescriptions remains uncertain, prospective audit and feedback (PAF) has improved inpatient antimicrobial use. We aimed to identify and characterize suboptimal discharge antimicrobial prescribing and assess the impact of inpatient PAF on the quality of discharge antimicrobial prescribing at a free-standing children’s hospital. Methods A retrospective review of enteral discharge antimicrobial prescriptions between 12/1/20-5/31/21 and parenteral antimicrobial prescriptions sent to our hospital’s infusion pharmacy between 3/1/21-5/31/21 was performed to determine if suboptimal or not. A prescription was determined to be suboptimal if the antimicrobial choice, dose, frequency, duration, formulation, or indication was not consistent with institutional and/or national guidelines. Data collection included the antimicrobial, indication, and prescribing medical service. Prescriptions were evaluated for a corresponding inpatient PAF for the same drug and indication and then stratified based on inpatient PAF completion. Results A total of 1192 discharge prescriptions for 698 unique patients over 834 hospital encounters were reviewed. Overall, 243 (20%) prescriptions were identified as suboptimal; reasons were duration (16%), dose (8%), frequency (5%), or antimicrobial choice, formulation, or route (≤1%). Prescriptions for cephalexin had the highest rate of suboptimal prescribing (80/167, 48%), followed by amoxicillin-clavulanate (89/203, 44%). A corresponding inpatient PAF was identified for 675 (57%) of discharge antimicrobial prescriptions. Inpatient PAF prior to discharge resulted in fewer suboptimal discharge prescriptions for the same antimicrobial (8% vs. 36%, p < 0.001). Conclusion Antimicrobial prescribing at inpatient discharge was suboptimal in 1 of every 5 prescriptions. Inpatient PAF was associated with improved antimicrobial prescribing at hospital discharge. Antimicrobial stewardship programs should continue to explore ways to capture and intervene on antimicrobials prescribed at discharge. Disclosures Hayden T. Schwenk, MD, MPH, Nothing to disclose

53. Optimizing Transitions of Care Antimicrobial Prescribing at a Community Teaching Hospital

Background Antimicrobial stewardship integral to patient care. Institutions with stewardship decrease antibiotic use, cost, and antibiotic-associated infections. However, few efforts have been formally made to address discharge antimicrobial prescribing, even though many patients started on antibiotic therapy in the hospital are prescribed oral antibiotics to complete their regimens. Methods This was an IRB approved, quasi-experimental, pre-post study. Patients were included if they were >18 years and were discharged from the hospital with an oral antibiotic prescription. Patients discharged against medical advice, prescribed indefinite prophylactic antimicrobial therapy for legitimate reasons, or discharged to a skilled nursing facility were excluded. The retrospective group evaluated a random sample of patients discharged in 2/2020. The prospective group included patients discharged between 1/2021 – 6/2021. In the prospective group, a clinical pharmacist assessed the indication for antibiotics and pended discharge antibiotic prescriptions for physician review. Antibiotic choice and duration of therapy were based on local and national guidelines. Patient Screening for Inclusion and Exclusion Breakdown of patients screened, included, and excluded for study Results 86 (53.1%) of 162 retrospective patients from 2/2020 prior to implementation of the program demonstrated were discharged on inappropriate antimicrobial therapy with excessive duration being the principal driver for inappropriateness. In the prospective group of 64 patients, the rate of patients discharged on inappropriate antibiotics decreased to 28.1% (p=0.001). The duration of inappropriate therapy decreased from a mean of 4.6 days to 2.7 days (p=0.001). 45 (70.3%) of 64 prospective pharmacist’s interventions were accepted by providers. Study Outcomes Outcomes including overall appropriate prescribing, appropriate duration, spectrum, frequency, and dose, as well as days of inappropriate therapy Conclusion Literature demonstrates that prospective evaluation of discharge antibiotics by a clinical pharmacist is effective in improving appropriateness of discharge antibiotic prescriptions, optimizing duration of outpatient antibiotics as well as reducing unnecessarily broad-spectrum therapy. The prospective results from this study demonstrate that this innovative approach can improve outpatient oral antibiotic prescribing and provide a framework for other institutions to implement similar programs. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Antimicrobial prescribing and outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia in Australian hospitalized patients: a cross-sectional study

Objective We aimed to assess prescribing practices, compliance with guidelines, and outcomes for patients who were admitted to the authors’ institution with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Methods We performed a single-center retrospective cross-sectional study of adults with CAP presenting during the 2019 influenza season. CAP severity was assessed using the CURB-65 risk score. The effect of CURB-65 risk score use on the rate of appropriate antimicrobial prescribing was assessed using the chi-square test and reported as odds ratio (OR). Fisher’s exact test was used to assess the relationship between prescribing appropriateness and patient outcomes. Results Patients with low-risk CAP were most likely to be inappropriately prescribed antimicrobials (OR: 4.77; 95% confidence interval: 2.44–10.47). In low-risk CAP, the most common prescribing error was overuse of ceftriaxone. In high-risk CAP, the most common errors were ceftriaxone underdosing and missed atypical coverage with azithromycin. Overall, 80% of patients were considered to have been inappropriately prescribed antimicrobials. No effect on mortality was observed. Conclusions In this study, we found low use of CAP risk scores and low adherence to antimicrobial prescribing guidelines for CAP at the authors’ institution.

165. Decreased Antimicrobial Consumption and Decreased Rates of Multi-drug Resistant Organisms Following Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience from an Australian Tertiary Hospital

Background Current guidelines recommend empiric antibiotics be used only for severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or in cases where there is high clinical suspicion for bacterial co-infection. Level of adherence to guideline-recommended prescribing is unknown and high rates of antimicrobial prescribing may lead to increased development of resistance. Methods We reviewed antimicrobial prescribing patterns for patients with COVID-19 managed at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia in 2020. Adherence to World Health Organization (WHO) guideline-based prescribing was assessed by manual review of case notes. Monthly hospital-wide antibacterial consumption April-Dec 2020 (post-pandemic period) was compared to Jan 2019-Mar 2020 (pre-pandemic period), measured as days of therapy (DOT) per 1000 patient-days. Rates of multi-drug resistant organisms (MRO) (including MRSA, VRE, CPE, ESBL) were compared between months in 2019 and 2020 after pandemic onset (April 2020) and expressed as isolates per 1000 patient-days. Results 147 patients were managed for COVID-19 in 2020 at our centre. 101 patients required hospital admission and 58 (39%) were classified as either severe or critical in severity. 80 (54%) patients received empiric antimicrobial treatment, including 78/101 (77%) of hospital inpatients and 24/26 (92%) of ICU-admitted patients. 59 (73%) of antimicrobial prescriptions were adherent to WHO guidelines. Monthly antibacterial consumption was significantly lower post-pandemic than in the pre-pandemic period (mean 853 vs 902 DOT/1000 patient-days, P=0.0065). Antimicrobial use patterns varied, with significant decreases in commonly used antibiotics such as ceftriaxone, piperacillin-tazobactam, azithromycin and ciprofloxacin but no change in vancomycin or meropenem (Figure 1). There was a mean decrease of 0.77 MRO isolates/1000 patient-days (P=0.026) when each month in 2020 was compared with the corresponding month in 2019 (Figure 2). Antibacterial consumption in 2019 and 2020 by month, expressed as days of therapy/1000 patient-days. Rates of isolated multi-drug resistant organisms in 2019 and 2020 by month, expressed as isolates/1000 patient-days. Conclusion A high proportion of admitted patients with COVID-19 received empiric antibiotics. In spite of this, we observed a significant reduction in total antimicrobial consumption and reduced rates of MRO isolation in the post-pandemic period. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures