Compliance to Guidelines in Prescribing Empirical Antibiotics for Individuals with Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infection in a Primary Health Facility of Ghana, 2019–2021

Helena Owusu (), Pruthu Thekkur, Jacklyne Ashubwe-Jalemba, George Kwesi Hedidor, Oksana Corquaye, Asiwome Aggor, Allen Steele-Dadzie and Daniel Ankrah
Additional contact information
Helena Owusu: Pharmacy Department, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra P.O. Box KB77, Ghana
Pruthu Thekkur: Centre for Operational Research, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), 75001 Paris, France
Jacklyne Ashubwe-Jalemba: Medwise Solutions, Nairobi P.O. Box 2356-00202 KNH, Kenya
George Kwesi Hedidor: World Health Organization Country Office, Roman Ridge, Accra P.O. Box MB142, Ghana
Oksana Corquaye: Pharmacy Department, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra P.O. Box KB77, Ghana
Asiwome Aggor: Pharmacy Department, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra P.O. Box KB77, Ghana
Allen Steele-Dadzie: Polyclinic/Family Medicine Department, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra P.O. Box KB77, Ghana
Daniel Ankrah: Pharmacy Department, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra P.O. Box KB77, Ghana

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: Increasing trends in antimicrobial resistance among uropathogens call for rational use of empirical antibiotics for managing uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs). In Ghana, standard treatment guidelines (STGs) for UTI recommend oral ciprofloxacin or cefuroxime for 5–7 days in females and 10–14 days in males. We conducted a cross-sectional audit using electronic medical records (EMR) to assess compliance to the STGs among adults (≥18 years) with uncomplicated UTIs diagnosed in a primary health facility between October 2019 and October 2021. Among 3717 patients, 71% were females and all had complete prescription details in the EMR. Of all the patients, 83% were prescribed empirical antibiotics, of whom 88% received oral ciprofloxacin or cefuroxime. Only 68% were prescribed antibiotics for the correct duration, which was significantly lower among males (10%) compared to females (90%). Among patients who received antibiotics, 60% were prescribed in line with the STGs. The results call for feedback to physicians about poor compliance to STGs with duration of antibiotic prescribed. Recommendations on 10–14 days duration of antibiotics for males needs to be reassessed and necessary amendments to STGs can be made. Leveraging the well-established EMR system, a real-time audit-feedback mechanism can be instituted to improve compliance with STGs.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance; antimicrobial stewardship; audit-feedback mechanism; urinary tract infections; compliance; electronic medical records; sort it; operational research; Ghana; West Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12413/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12413/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12413-:d:929063

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().