Vol.70 No.6 November 2022
Effectiveness of educating physicians on the appropriate use of oral antimicrobials for acute diarrhea among outpatients
1)Safety Environment Management Office, Kariya Toyota General Hospital, 5-15 Sumiyoshi, Kariya, Aichi, Japan
2)Department of Pharmacy, Kariya Toyota General Hospital
3)Department of Infectious Diseases, Nagoya University Hospital
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance has become a global problem, and effective use of antimicrobial agents is important for combating antimicrobial drug resistance. The action plan for combating antimicrobial drug resistance in Japan calls for a reduction in the use of oral antimicrobial agents, and a revision of the reimbursement system requires monitoring of the use of oral antimicrobial agents for acute respiratory tract infections and acute diarrhea in outpatient services. We investigated the use of oral antimicrobial agents among outpatients at our hospital. We found that fosfomycin (FOM) was frequently prescribed in the emergency department for cases of acute diarrhea at our hospital. In collaboration with the Department of Gastroenterology, we educated physicians involved in emergency outpatient care regarding the treatment of acute diarrhea using the "Guide for the Proper Use of Antimicrobial Agents, Second Edition" published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Following this intervention, the incidence of FOM prescriptions significantly decreased from 30.0% (90/300) before the intervention to 4.5% (11/244) after the intervention (p<0.01), without increasing the number of return visits or hospitalizations due to poor outcomes. Thus, educating physicians on the proper use of antimicrobial agents can help optimize the treatment of acute diarrhea.
Key word
antimicrobial stewardship, acute diarrhea, outpatient
Received
July 25, 2022
Accepted
October 6, 2022
Jpn. J. Chemother. 70 (6): 460-465, 2022
