Antibiotics prescription in the elderly across different clinical areas; A real-life clinical audit

Khaled Madi, Joyce Luk, Seline Sutton, Amr Elkammash and Sathyabama Loganathan
Additional contact information
Khaled Madi: The Royal Bournemouth Hospital, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Bournemouth, UK
Joyce Luk: The Royal Bournemouth Hospital, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Bournemouth, UK
Seline Sutton: The Royal Bournemouth Hospital, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Bournemouth, UK
Amr Elkammash: The Royal Bournemouth Hospital, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Bournemouth, UK
Sathyabama Loganathan: The Royal Bournemouth Hospital, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Bournemouth, UK

Technium BioChemMed: Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Biology, Chemistry and Medicine ISSN 2734 - 7990, 2021, vol. 2, issue 4, 53-58

Abstract: Ageing of the population represents a great challenge to the national health system (NHS) in the UK. Patients in this age group have multiple comorbidities and use polypharmacy. They also have alterations in the absorption, metabolism and excretion of drugs. These factors make them susceptible to developing side effects and drug interactions on using antibiotics.Our team audited the safety of antibiotic prescription in elderly patients (above 85 years of age) in regards to the selection of the appropriate antibiotics, and the documentation of the indication and duration of them. We also compared the prescription process during working hours and out of hours. We recruited 20 patients from each of the three departments involved in their care: The Old people admission unit (OPAU), the geriatric wards and other hospital wards. Our minimum compliance rate was 95% in each of the studied parameters. We spotted a significant compromise in the antibiotic prescription on non-geriatric wards and out of hours. This goes with the concerns raised by other studies. We recommend continuous education and the setting up of campaigns to increase the awareness of the medical staff on this aspect.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://techniumscience.com/index.php/biochemmed/article/view/5154 (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:tec:bioche:ojs:5154

DOI: 10.47577/biochemmed.v2i4.5154

Access Statistics for this article

Technium BioChemMed: Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Biology, Chemistry and Medicine ISSN 2734 - 7990 is currently edited by Anna Maria Golita

More articles in Technium BioChemMed: Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Biology, Chemistry and Medicine ISSN 2734 - 7990 from Technium Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Anna Maria Golita ().