Physicians under Pressure: Evidence from Antibiotics Prescribing in England

Background Many physicians are experiencing increasing demands from both their patients and society. Evidence is scarce on the consequences of the pressure on physicians’ decision making. We present a theoretical framework and predict that increasing pressure may make physicians disregard societal welfare when treating patients. Setting We test our prediction on general practitioners’ antibiotic-prescribing choices. Because prescribing broad-spectrum antibiotics does not require microbiological testing, it can be performed more quickly than prescribing for narrow-spectrum antibiotics and is therefore often preferred by the patient. In contrast, from a societal perspective, inappropriate prescribing of broad-spectrum antibiotics should be minimized as it may contribute to antimicrobial resistance in the general population. Methods We combine longitudinal survey data and administrative data from 2010 to 2017 to create a balanced panel of up to 1072 English general practitioners (GPs). Using a series of linear models with GP fixed effects, we estimate the importance of different sources of pressure for GPs’ prescribing. Results We find that the percentage of broad-spectrum antibiotics prescribed increases by 6.4% as pressure increases on English GPs. The link between pressure and prescribing holds for different sources of pressure. Conclusions Our findings suggest that there may be societal costs of physicians working under pressure. Policy makers need to take these costs into account when evaluating existing policies as well as when introducing new policies affecting physicians’ work pressure. An important avenue for further research is also to determine the underlying mechanisms related to the different sources of pressure.JEL-code: I11, J28, J45 Highlights Many physicians are working under increasing pressure. We test the importance of pressure on physicians’ prescribing of antibiotics. The prescribed rate of broad-spectrum antibiotics increases with pressure. Policy makers should be aware of the societal costs of pressured physicians. [Formula: see text]

Pattern of acquisition of hospital-associated pathogens in the ICU of an academic tertiary care hospital

BACKGROUND: Among hospitalized patients, a 48-hour window from time of hospitalization defines nosocomial infections and guides empiric antibiotic selection. This time frame may lead to overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Our primary objective was to determine the earliest and median time since hospital admission to acquire antibiotic-resistant pathogens among patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of an academic, tertiary care hospital. METHODS: Retrospective chart review was conducted for adult patients admitted to the ICU from home or another hospital within the same health authority in 2018, to identify the time to acquisition of hospital-associated pathogens: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing Enterobacterales, non-ESBL ceftriaxone-resistant Enterobacterales, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Patients transferred from hospitals outside the health authority, admitted to ICU after 14 days of hospitalization, who were solid organ or bone marrow transplant recipients, or who were otherwise immunocompromised were excluded. RESULTS: In 2018, 1,343 patients were admitted to this ICU; 820 met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 121 (14.76%) acquired a hospital-associated pathogen in the ICU. The probability of isolating a hospital-associated pathogen by 48 hours of hospital admission was 3%. The earliest time to isolate any of these pathogens was 29 hours, and the median was 9 days (interquartile range [IQR] 3.8–15.6 days). CONCLUSIONS: Most patients (85.3%) in this ICU never acquired a hospital-associated pathogen. The median time to acquire a hospital-associated pathogen among the remaining patients suggests that initiating empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics on the basis of a 48-hour threshold may be premature.

Efficacy of Combined Therapy with Nitroimidazole Drugs and Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics on Intra-Abdominal Infection: A 10 Years Real-World Cohort Study

Background: Abdominal infection still has a high mortality rate, and whether the combination of nitroimidazoles against obligate anaerobe could improve the outcome of abdominal infection remains controversial. Objective: This study aimed at exploring the clinical efficacy of broad-spectrum antibiotics combined with nitroimidazoles in the treatment of abdominal infection. Methods: Clinical data of patients with abdominal infection who received broad-spectrum antibiotics alone (BSA) or broad-spectrum antibiotics in combination with nitroimidazole (NCBSA) at a single center from June 2010 to May 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. One-to-one propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to adjust the potential differences in age, gender, APACHE II score and SOFA score of the two groups. Clinical effective rate, hospitalization days and total hospitalization costs were compared between the two groups. Meanwhile, subgroup efficacy was analyzed according to disease severity (APACH II score) and whether abdominal surgery was performed. Result: A total of 149 propensity score-matched case pairs were included in this study. There was no statistical difference in clinical effective rates between the two groups (P = 0.236). The patients in BSA group had shorter hospital stays (18d vs 27d, P = 0.001) and lower hospitalization costs (85185.7 yuan vs 187898.3 yuan, P < 0.001). However, the body temperature and PCT in patients in NCBSA group were higher than those in BSA group (P = 0.007 and P = 0.045, respectively), and CRP and WBC values in NCBSA group also were higher, but there were no significant differences between the two groups (P = 0.105 and P = 0.170, respectively). And more patients (92 vs 38) in NCBSA group underwent abdominal surgery, which indicated the infection and clinical conditons in NCBSA group were probably more severe. Subgroup analysis showed that the severity of the disease and whether the patient suffered postoperative co-infection did not affect the therapeutic effect of the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The clinical efficacy of broad-spectrum antibiotics combined with nitroimidazoles for abdominal infection was similar to that of broad-spectrum antibiotics alone, and whether the combination of nitroimidazoles in these conditions still needs more lcinical evidence.

Outcomes and antibiotic use in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to an intensive care unit

Antibiotic overuse is high in patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) despite a low documented prevalence of bacterial infections in many studies. In this study evaluating 65 COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit, empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics were often overutilized with an inertia to de-escalate despite negative culture results.

A Rare Case of Pseudomembranous Colitis Presenting with Pleural Effusion and Ascites with Literature Review

Clostridium difficile infection usually results from long-term and irregular antibiotic intake. The high-risk individuals for this infection include the patients undergoing chemotherapy due to malignancy, immunocompromised patients, and hospitalized patients receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics. The most common clinical manifestation of Clostridium difficile infection is diarrhea. However, pleural effusion and ascites have rarely been observed. As mentioned, these manifestations can be developed in a patient being treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics. Therefore, the present study reports a rare case of Clostridium difficile infection manifesting with these rare manifestations who was a 78-year-old female patient with a history of COVID-19, orthopedic surgery, and antibiotic treatment with cefixime and gentamicin.

Coping With Diagnostic Uncertainty in Antibiotic Prescribing: A Latent Class Study of Primary Care Physicians in Hubei China

Background: Misuse of antibiotics is prevalent worldwide and primary care is a major contributor. Although a clear diagnosis is fundamental for rational antibiotic use, primary care physicians often struggle with diagnostic uncertainty. However, we know little about how physicians cope with this situation and its association with antibiotic prescribing.Methods: A total of 583 primary care physicians were surveyed using the Dealing with Uncertainty Questionnaire. Their prescriptions (n = 949,181) over the year 2018 were retrieved retrospectively. Two categories of behavioral patterns of participants were identified based on latent class analyses (high vs. low openness and collaborativeness) in responding to diagnostic uncertainty. Multi-level logistic regression models were established to determine the associations between these behavioral patterns and antibiotic prescribing (overall and broad-spectrum antibiotics) for illness without an indication for antibiotics and those with a conditional indication for antibiotics, respectively, after adjustment for variations of patient (level one) and physician (level two) characteristics.Results: Most physicians reported open communications with their patients (80.96%), collected further information (85.08%), and referred patients to specialists (68.95%) in dealing with diagnostic uncertainly. More than half (56.95%) sought help from colleagues. Less than 20% acted on intuition or adopted a “wait and see” strategy. About 40% participants (n = 238) were classified into the group of low openness and collaborativeness in coping with diagnostic uncertainty. They were more likely to prescribe antibiotics for the recorded illness without an indication for antibiotics (AOR = 1.013 for all antibiotics, p = 0.024; AOR = 1.047 for broad-spectrum antibiotics, p &lt; 0.001), as well as for the recorded illness with a conditional indication for antibiotics (AOR = 1.226 for all antibiotic, p &lt; 0.001; AOR = 1.257 for broad-spectrum antibiotics, p &lt; 0.001).Conclusion: Low tolerance with diagnostic uncertainty is evident in primary care. Inappropriate and over antibiotic prescribing is shaped by physicians' coping methods of diagnostic uncertainty. Physicians' openness and collaborativeness in responding to diagnostic uncertainty is associated with lower antibiotic prescribing in primary care. Interventions targeting on better management of diagnostic uncertainty may offer a promising approach in reducing antibiotic use in primary care.

Association Between Corticosteroids and Outcomes in Children Hospitalized With Orbital Cellulitis

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between systemic corticosteroid use and outcomes for children hospitalized with orbital cellulitis at US children’s hospitals. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter observational study using administrative data from the Pediatric Health Information System database from 2007 to 2019. Children between the ages of 2 months and 18 years with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification or 10th Revision, Clinical Modification discharge diagnostic codes of orbital cellulitis were included. The primary exposure was receipt of systemic corticosteroids on the day of hospital admission. The primary outcome was hospital length of stay, and secondary outcomes included surgical intervention, ICU admissions, revisits, and health care costs. We used generalized logit model with inverse probability weighting logistic regression to adjust for demographic factors and assess for differences in clinical outcomes reported. RESULTS: Of the 5832 patients hospitalized with orbital cellulitis, 330 (5.7%) were in the corticosteroid group and 5502 (94.3%) were in the noncorticosteroid group. Patients in the corticosteroid group were older, had more severe illness, and received broad spectrum antibiotics. In adjusted analyses, corticosteroid exposure was not associated with differences in length of hospital stay, need for surgical intervention, ICU admissions, emergency department revisits, 30-day hospital readmissions, or hospital costs. Restricting the analysis to only those patients who received broad spectrum antibiotics did not change the findings. CONCLUSIONS: Early use of systemic corticosteroids in hospitalized children with orbital cellulitis is not associated with improved clinical outcomes. Use of corticosteroids in hospitalized children with orbital cellulitis should be discouraged outside of clinical trials.

Outcome and Risk Factors of Febrile Episodes Treated with Broad Spectrum Antibiotics and Polyclonal IgM–enriched Immunoglobulin in Pediatric Oncology Hematology Patients: A Retrospective Study

Objective Preparations with high-titer immunoglobulin-M (HT-IgM) have been used to treat neonatal and adult sepsis as adjuvant to antibiotics. Limited data are available of this use in pediatric oncohematological patients. We retrospectively assessed the characteristics and outcome of febrile episodes treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics and HT-IgM. Methods The study included febrile episodes diagnosed after chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) treated with antibiotics and HT-IgM. Study period was from January 2011 to March 2019. Results Seventy febrile episodes in 63 patients were eligible. In 40% of episodes (n = 28), blood cultures identified a causative organism: Gram-negative (n = 15), Gram-positive (n = 8), polybacterial (n = 4), fungi (n = 1). Twenty-six percent of Gram-negatives were extend spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producers. In 44% of episodes, a deep-organ localization was present, mostly pulmonary. Severe or profound neutropenia, hypotension, and hypoxemia were present in 89, 26, and 21% of episodes, respectively; 20% of episodes required intensive care and 20% of episodes required the use of inotropes. Overall, 90-day mortality was 13% and infection-attributable mortality resulted 8.6%. More than half of the patients received HT-IgM within 24 hours from fever onset. HT-IgM-related allergic reactions occurred in three episodes. Risk factors for 90-day mortality were as follows: hypotension and hypoxemia at fever presentation, admission to intensive care unit (ICU), use of inotropes, presence of deep-organ infection, and escalation of antibiotic therapy within 5 days. Conclusion The combination of broad-spectrum antibiotics and HT-IgM was feasible, tolerated, and promising, being associated with a limited infectious mortality. Further prospective controlled studies are needed to assess the efficacy of this combination over a standard antibiotic approach.

Leveraging implementation science to advance antibiotic stewardship practice and research

Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed medications, and there is evidence to guide the optimal use of these agents for most situations encountered in clinical medicine, including for both treatment and prophylaxis. Nevertheless, clinicians routinely prescribe antibiotics in ways that diverge from this evidence, such as prescribing them when not indicated, for durations longer than necessary, or selecting broad-spectrum antibiotics when a narrower-spectrum agent would suffice.1,2 This overuse of antibiotics contributes to the public health crisis of antibiotic resistance while exposing patients to potential antibiotic-related harms.