ArticleBMC health services research2018
Multiple challenges of antibiotic use in a large hospital in Ethiopia - a ward-specific study showing high rates of hospital-acquired infections and ineffective prophylaxis.
Article in BMC health services research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers.
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47 citing papers in PubMed.
- Multilevel barriers to antimicrobial stewardship in tertiary care hospitals: A comparative systematic scoping review of high-income versus low-/middle-income countries evidence mapped by study design and healthcare professionals.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- Evaluation of inpatient antibiotic prescribing patterns using WHO indicators in Northern Ethiopia: a prospective cross-sectional study identifying stewardship gaps.BMC research notes · 2026Article
- Prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase and carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in humans, animals and the environment in Northwest Amhara, Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Antibiotic prescribing patterns and consumption at a comprehensive specialized hospital in northern Ethiopia: a prospective cross-sectional study underscoring the need for antimicrobial stewardship.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- A multicenter point-prevalence survey of antibiotic utilization patterns in Ethiopia: implications for strengthening stewardship programs.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Factors influencing the use of microbiology services: A cross-sectional study in Ethiopian public hospitals.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- Article
- Antibiotic consumption and utilization at a large tertiary care level hospital in Uganda: A point prevalence survey.PloS one · 2025Article
- Retracted: Antibiotic Prescribing Behavior of Physicians in Outpatient Departments in Hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia: Structural Equation Modeling Approach.Interactive journal of medical research · 2024Article
- Antibiotic use and adherence to the WHO AWaRe guidelines across 16 hospitals in Zambia: a point prevalence survey.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2024Article
- Antibiotic utilization at an orthopedic inpatient department in a large governmental hospital in the north of the West Bank, Palestine; a retrospective observational study.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Observational
- Antibiotic consumption in hospitals in humanitarian settings in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and South Sudan.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2024Article
- Assessment of challenges and opportunities in antibiotic stewardship program implementation in Northwest Ethiopia.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Antimicrobial resistance trends in clinicalAfrican journal of laboratory medicine · 2024Article
- Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns of Pathogens Isolated from Patients with Wound Infection at a Teaching Hospital in Vietnam.Infection and drug resistance · 2024Article
- Article
- Inpatient antibacterial use trends and patterns, China, 2013-2021.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2023Article
- Article
- Diagnosis and Management of Adult Tuberculosis Patients Admitted to a Rural Hospital in Ethiopia.Cureus · 2023Article
- Magnitude and Molecular Characterization of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Genes among Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates in a Large Tertiary Hospital in Ethiopia.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThis project aims to study the use of antibiotics in three clinical wards in the largest tertiary teaching hospital in Ethiopia for a period of 1 year. The specific aims were to assess the prevalence of patients on antibiotics, quantify the antibiotic consumption and identify the main indications of use.
methodThe material was all the medical charts (n = 2231) retrieved from three clinical wards (internal medicine, gynecology/obstetrics and surgery) in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) in Addis Ababa between September 2013 and September 2014. Data collection was performed manually by four pharmacists.
resultsEach medical chart represented one patient. About 60% of the patients were admitted to internal medicine, 20% to each of the other two wards. The number of bed days (BD) was on average 16.5. Antibiotics for systemic use were prescribed to 73.7% of the patients (on average: 2.1 antibiotics/patient) of whom 86.6% got a third or fourth generation cephalosporin (mainly ceftriaxone). The average consumption of antibiotics was 81.6 DDD/100BD, varying from 91.8 in internal medicine and 71.6 in surgery to 47.6 in gynecology/obstetrics. The five most frequently occurring infections were pneumonia (26.6%), surgical site infections (21.5%), neutropenic fever (6.9%), sepsis (6.4%) and urinary tract infections (4.7%). About one fourth of the prescriptions were for prophylactic purposes. Hospital acquired infections occurred in 23.5% of the patients (353 cases of surgical site infection). The prescribing was based on empirical treatment and sensitivity testing was reported in only 3.8% of the cases.
conclusionsIn the present study from three wards in the largest tertiary teaching hospital in Ethiopia, three out of four patients were prescribed antibiotics, primarily empirically. The mean antibiotic consumption was 81.6 DDD/100BD. Surgical site infections constituted a large burden of the infections treated in the hospital, despite extensive prescribing of prophylaxis. The findings show the need to implement antibiotic stewardship programs in Ethiopian hospitals with focus on rational prescribing, increased sensitivity testing and better procedures to prevent hospital acquired infections.
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