Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34223015›Full record

ArticleJAC-antimicrobial resistance2020

Measuring antimicrobial prescribing quality in outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) services: development and evaluation of a dedicated national antimicrobial prescribing survey.

N Deborah Friedman, Seok M Lim, Rodney James, Robyn Ingram, Mary O'Reilly, James G D Pollard, Sonia Koning, Catherine George, Arjun Rajkhowa, Douglas F Johnson and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JAC-antimicrobial resistance, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy in non-cystic fibrosis lung transplant recipients: characteristics, efficacy and safety.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Exploring the advancements of Australian OPAT.Therapeutic advances in infectious disease
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

N Deborah FriedmanNational Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Seok M LimDepartment of General Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7046-0884
Rodney JamesNational Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Robyn IngramNational Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Mary O'ReillyEastern Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
James G D PollardBarwon Health, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
Sonia KoningEastern Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Catherine GeorgeNational Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Arjun RajkhowaNational Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Douglas F JohnsonDepartment of General Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Kirsty L BuisingNational Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAntimicrobial stewardship programmes are important in driving safety and quality of antimicrobial prescribing. The National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS) is a point-prevalence audit of inpatient antimicrobial prescribing in Australian hospitals.

objectivesTo design and adapt the NAPS tool for use in the outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) and hospital-in-the-home (HITH) setting.

methodsAn inter-disciplinary working group with expertise in OPAT and HITH services was established to adapt the NAPS template for use in the OPAT setting-called HITH-NAPS. This was initially trialled in 5 HITH services, subsequently adapted following participant feedback, then offered nationally to 50 services in 2017.

resultsThere were 1154 prescriptions for 715 patients audited via the HITH-NAPS. The most common antimicrobials prescribed were cefazolin (22%), flucloxacillin (12%), piperacillin/tazobactam (10%) and ceftriaxone (10%). The most common infections treated were cellulitis (30%) and respiratory tract infections (14%). Eighty-seven percent of prescriptions were assessed as appropriate, 11% inappropriate and 2% not assessable. Prolonged durations of antimicrobials and unnecessarily broad-spectrum antibiotics were used in 9% of prescriptions.

conclusionsThe HITH-NAPS pilot project revealed that auditing of this type is feasible in HITH. It showed that antibiotic use in these HITH services was generally appropriate, but there are some areas for improvement. A national OPAT/HITH-NAPS can facilitate benchmarking between services, identify potentially inappropriate prescribing and help guide quality improvement.

Identifiers

PMID34223015
PMCPMC8210186

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.