ArticleInfection prevention in practice2020
Antibiotic use among surgical inpatients at a tertiary health facility: a case for a standardized protocol for presumptive antimicrobial therapy in the developing world.
Article in Infection prevention in practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Improving antibiotic utilization in West Africa: enhancing interventions through systematic review and evidence synthesis.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2025Pooled it
- Pattern of antimicrobial prescription in Africa: a systematic review of point prevalence surveys.The Pan African medical journal · 2023Pooled it
- Combating antimicrobial resistance in Asia: A comprehensive review of strategic action plans, policies, and the role of the WHO.Saudi medical journal · 2025Review
- Antibiotic use at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Zone d'Abomey Calavi/Sô-Ava (CHUZ/AS) in Benin: a point prevalence survey.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Article
- Assessment of antimicrobial prescribing patterns, guidelines compliance, and appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing in surgical-practice units: point prevalence survey in Malaysian teaching hospitals.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Antibiotic prescribing to inpatients in Limpopo, South Africa: a multicentre point-prevalence survey.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2023Article
- Development and evaluation of a continuous quality improvement programme for antimicrobial stewardship in six hospitals in Uganda.BMJ open quality · 2023Article
- Ongoing Efforts to Improve Antimicrobial Utilization in Hospitals among African Countries and Implications for the Future.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Burns in pregnancy: Five-year experience in a tertiary hospital in southeastern Nigeria.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIndiscriminate antimicrobial use is one of the greatest contributors to antimicrobial resistance. A low level of asepsis in hospitals and inadequate laboratory support have been adduced as reasons for indiscriminate use of antimicrobials among surgical patients. At present, there are no guidelines for presumptive antibiotic use in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
aimSurgical inpatients at the study hospital were surveyed to determine the level of antimicrobial use and degree of compliance with prescription quality indicators.
methodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among all surgical inpatients in May 2019 using a standardized tool developed by the University of Antwerp to assess the point prevalence of antimicrobials. Inpatients who were admitted from 08:00 h on the day of the survey were included. Data on patients' demographics, indication for antimicrobial use, reason for antimicrobial use, stop/review date, adherence to guidelines and laboratory use were collected. The prevalence of antimicrobial use in the surgical department was estimated.
resultsEighty-two inpatients were included in the survey. Of these, 97.6% were receiving at least one antimicrobial agent. Only 5.4% of the prescriptions were targeted, and 37.6% of prescriptions were for empirical treatment of infections. Approximately half (50.7%) of the patients were receiving presumptive antibiotics, and 6% were receiving prophylactic antibiotics. In total, 58.7% of prescriptions were administered parenterally, and 98.2% of patients had documentation of a stop/review date. Metronidazole (
conclusionsThere is a high rate of antimicrobial use among surgical inpatients, and the rate of indiscriminate antimicrobial prescribing among these patients needs to be reduced. This can be achieved by developing antimicrobial guidelines for presumptive antimicrobial therapy.
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