ArticleAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)2026
Antibiotic Utilization Patterns and Appropriateness of Antibiotic Prescribing in an Internal Medicine Service of a Secondary Care Hospital: A Retrospective Drug Utilization Study.
Article in Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesAntimicrobial resistance poses a severe global threat, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Hospitalized patients in internal medicine wards are vulnerable to inappropriate antibiotic exposure. This study aimed to evaluate antibiotic utilization patterns, standardize volumetric consumption, and assess the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing against national guidelines in the Internal Medicine service of a secondary-care hospital in Mexico.
methodsA retrospective descriptive drug-utilization study based on hospital records was conducted from July 2023 to December 2024. During this period, 1127 admissions to the Internal Medicine service were recorded; 413 eligible patients who received at least one systemic antimicrobial agent were included, accounting for 769 prescription events. Antimicrobial consumption was expressed as Defined Daily Doses (DDDs) per 100 admissions according to WHO ATC/DDD methodology. A focused prescribing-appropriateness assessment was performed for the five most frequently prescribed antimicrobial agents (
resultsThe cohort had a mean age of 61.4 ± 18.2 years, and 51.3% were aged ≥65 years. Cephalosporins (30.4%) and carbapenems (16.1%) were the most frequently prescribed pharmacological classes. Ceftriaxone had the highest standardized utilization density (49.69 DDDs/100 admissions) and an 80.6% prescribing-alignment rate. Meropenem followed with 44.72 DDDs/100 admissions despite substantially fewer prescription events. The largest proportions of prescription events classified as opportunities for optimization were observed for levofloxacin (48.5%), vancomycin (41.4%), and meropenem (36.1%).
conclusionsHigh overall guideline alignment (73%) coexisted with substantial use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials. Stewardship prioritization should integrate quantitative utilization with qualitative prescribing assessment rather than interpret total DDD burden as avoidable exposure. These findings provide a baseline for targeted antimicrobial stewardship and clinical-pharmacy interventions in a resource-constrained secondary-care setting.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.