Objective: To investigate the utilization of antibiotics in emergency departments (EDs) of class Ⅲ general hospitals in China. Methods: Data from a national monitoring network for rational use of drugs was used. The data included prescriptions of EDs from 114 class Ⅲ general hospitals in 30 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) of China. A total of 10 260 595 prescriptions from October 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016 were extracted. The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification/Defined Daily Dose (DDD) system was used for the classification of antibiotics and calculation of antibiotic use intensity. An auto-regression model was used to analyze the trend over time and seasonal variation of antibiotic use in EDs. Results: The rate of antibiotic prescriptions was 27.82% in EDs, among the antibiotics prescribed, 25.58% were for the combination therapy with 2 or more antibiotic agents, and injectable antibiotic prescriptions accounted for 60.59%. Besides, the number of DDDs per 100 patient visits was 81.84. Broad-spectrum agents were the most commonly used antibiotics, among which the second and third generation cephalosporins, quinolones and macrolides accounted for 23.83%, 21.68%, 19.17% and 7.89% of all prescribed antibiotics, respectively. The use of antibiotics, including prescription frequency and use intensity, in EDs had a slight but significant increase tendency (P<0.05), and the seasonal variation of antibiotic use in EDs was obvious, characterized by the highest frequency and intensity of antibiotic use in winter, the differences were significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: The antibiotic prescription rate in EDs of classⅢ general hospitals in China was controlled at a low level, but the proportions of broad-spectrum antibiotics and injectable antibiotics were high, and a significant increase trend in antibiotic use in EDs was found.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; China ; Drug Prescriptions ; Drug Utilization ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hospitals ; Hospitals, General ; Humans

BACKGROUNDMedical misuse of antibiotics is associated with the acquisition and spread of antibiotic resistance, resulting in a lack of effective drugs and increased health-care cost. Nevertheless, inappropriate antibiotic use in China remains common and the situation requires urgent improvement. Here, we analyzed the prescriptions of antibiotics and evaluated the rationality of antibiotic use among outpatients in Beijing general hospitals during 2015.

METHODSWe collected basic medical insurance claim data from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 in 507 general hospitals of Beijing. A descriptive analysis of outpatient antibiotic prescribing was performed. The Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification/defined daily doses system was used to evaluate the rationality of antibiotic use.

RESULTSOver the study, an estimated 721,930, 613,520, and 822,480 antibiotics were dispensed in primary, secondary, and tertiary general hospitals corresponding to 5.09%, 5.06%, and 2.53% of all prescriptions, respectively. Antibiotic combinations represented 2.95%, 7.74%, and 10.18% of the total antibiotic prescriptions, respectively. Expenditure for the top twenty antibiotics in primary, secondary, and tertiary general hospitals was RMB 42.92, 65.89, and 83.26 million Yuan, respectively. Cephalosporins were the most frequently prescribed class of antibiotic in clinical practice. The antibiotics used inappropriately included azithromycin enteric-coated capsules, compound cefaclor tablets and nifuratel nysfungin vaginal soft capsules in primary hospitals, amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium dispersible tablets (7:1) and cefonicid sodium for injection in secondary hospitals, cefminox sodium for injection and amoxicillin sodium and sulbactam sodium for injection in tertiary hospitals.

CONCLUSIONSAntibiotic use in Beijing general hospitals is generally low; however, inappropriate antibiotic use still exists. Inappropriately used antibiotics should be subject to rigorous control and management, and public policy initiatives are required to promote the judicious use of antibiotics.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Amoxicillin ; therapeutic use ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cephalosporins ; therapeutic use ; China ; Drug Prescriptions ; statistics & numerical data ; Drug Utilization ; statistics & numerical data ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Outpatients ; statistics & numerical data ; Young Adult

INTRODUCTIONParenteral nutrition (PN) is indicated for patients who are unable to progress to oral or enteral nutrition. There are no local studies done on estimating the cost of PN in acute settings. The aims of this study are to describe the demographics, costs of PN and manpower required; and to determine the avoidable PN costs for patients and hospital on short-term PN.

MATERIALS AND METHODSPatient data between October 2011 and December 2013 were reviewed. Data collected include demographics, length of stay (LOS), and the indication/duration of PN. PN administration cost was based on the cost of the PN bags, blood tests and miscellaneous items, adjusted to subsidy levels. Manpower costs were based on the average hourly rate.

RESULTSCosts for PN and manpower were approximately S$1.2 million for 2791 PN days. Thirty-six cases (18.8%) of 140 PN days were short-term and considered to be avoidable where patients progressed to oral/enteral diet within 5 days. These short-term cases totalled $59,154.42, where $42,183.15 was payable by the patients. The daily costs for PN is also significantly higher for patients on short-term PN (P <0.001).

CONCLUSIONIn our acute hospital, 90% of patients referred for PN were surgical patients. Majority of the cost comes from the direct daily cost of the bag and blood tests, while extensive manpower cost was borne by the hospital; 18.8% of our cohort had short-term avoidable PN. Daily PN may cost up to 60% more in patients receiving short-term PN. Clinicians should assess patient's suitability for oral/enteral feeding to limit the use of short-term PN.

Enteral Nutrition ; Health Care Costs ; Health Manpower ; economics ; Hematologic Tests ; economics ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; economics ; Medical Overuse ; economics ; prevention & control ; Nutritional Support ; economics ; utilization ; Parenteral Nutrition ; economics ; utilization ; Singapore ; Time Factors

INTRODUCTIONMany alcohol-related problems often go undetected and untreated. In Singapore, no epidemiological studies have been done in general hospitals on alcohol use disorders (AUD), i.e. alcohol dependence and abuse (DSM-IV-TR). Such findings are useful in planning AUD liaison services. In this study, we aim to estimate the prevalence of AUD among non-psychiatric inpatients and to determine the rates of identification and intervention rendered by medical staff.

MATERIALS AND METHODSNon-psychiatric medical and surgical wards inpatients aged 21 years and above were recruited over a 3-month period. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to screen for AUD and the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI English Version 5.0.0) was administered to diagnose AUD if the AUDIT score was 8 or above. Case notes were independently reviewed for AUD identification and if interventions were offered during admissions.

RESULTSA total of 5599 inpatients were screened, of which 673 (12%) completed the screening using the AUDIT, and of these, 154 (2.8% of total sample) were positive for AUDIT. In this group, 107 were diagnosed with AUD. The estimated prevalence was 1.9% (approximately 400 cases per year per hospital). The medical staff identified only 25 (23.4%) cases of AUD, out of which, majority of them (76%) were rendered interventions.

CONCLUSIONThe rate of AUD identification by medical staff was low. Of those identified, majority were given interventions. Thus, the training of health care staff to identify AUD together with the implementation of brief interventions should be considered.

Adult ; Aged ; Alcoholism ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Female ; Hospitalization ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; utilization ; Mental Health Services ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Referral and Consultation ; Singapore ; epidemiology ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVES: This paper proposes new alert override reason codes that are improvements on existing Drug Utilization Review (DUR) codes based on an analysis of DUR alert override cases in a tertiary medical institution. METHODS: Data were obtained from a tertiary teaching hospital covering the period from April 1, 2012 to January 15, 2013. We analyzed cases in which doctors had used the 11 overlapping prescription codes provided by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) or had provided free-text reasons. RESULTS: We identified 27,955 alert override cases. Among these, 7,772 (27.8%) utilized the HIRA codes, and 20,183 (72.2%) utilized free-text reasons. According to the free-text content analysis, 8,646 cases (42.8%) could be classified using the 11 HIRA codes, and 11,537 (57.2%) could not. In the unclassifiable cases, we identified the need for codes for "prescription relating to operation" and "emergency situations." Two overlapping prescription codes required removal because they were not used. Codes A, C, F, H, I, and J (for drug non-administration cases) explained surrounding situations in too much detail, making differentiation between them difficult. These 6 codes were merged into code J4: "patient was not taking/will not take the medications involved in the DDI." Of the 11 HIRA codes, 6 were merged into a single code, 2 were removed, and 2 were added, yielding 6 alert override codes. We could codify 23,550 (84.2%) alert override cases using these codes. CONCLUSIONS: These new codes will facilitate the use of the drug-drug interactions alert override in the current DUR system. For further study, an appropriate evaluation should be conducted with prescribing clinicians.
Ambulatory Care ; Decision Support Systems, Clinical ; Drug Interactions ; Drug Utilization Review* ; Drug Utilization* ; Hospitals, Teaching* ; Humans ; Insurance, Health ; Korea* ; Outpatients* ; Prescriptions*

The improvement of antibiotic rational use in China was studied by usage analysis of combination antibiotic therapy for type I incisions in 244 hospitals. Five kinds of hospitals, including general hospital, maternity hospital, children's hospital, stomatological hospital and cancer hospital, from 30 provinces were surveyed. A systematic random sampling strategy was employed to select outpatient prescriptions and inpatient cases in 2011 and 2012. A total of 29 280 outpatient prescriptions and 73 200 inpatient cases from 244 hospitals in each year were analyzed. Data were collected with regards to the implementation of the national antibiotic stewardship program (NASP), the overall usage and the prophylactic use of antibiotic for type I incisions. Univariate analysis was used for microbiological diagnosis rate before antimicrobial therapy, prophylactic use of antibiotics for type I incision operation, and so on. For multivariate analysis, the use of antibiotics was dichotomized according to the guidelines, and entered as binary values into logistic regression analysis. The results were compared with the corresponding criteria given by the guidelines of this campaign. The antibiotic stewardship in China was effective in that more than 80% of each kind of hospitals achieved the criteria of recommended antibiotics varieties. Hospital type appeared to be a factor statistically associated with stewardship outcome. The prophylactic use of antibiotics on type I incision operations decreased by 16.22% (P<0.05). The usage of combination antibiotic therapy for type I incisions was also decreased. Region and bed size were the main determinants on surgical prophylaxis for type I incision. This national analysis of hospitals on antibiotic use and stewardship allows relevant comparisons for bench marking. More efforts addressing the root cause of antibiotics abuse would continue to improve the rational use of antibiotics in China.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; China ; epidemiology ; Drug Prescriptions ; Drug Utilization ; Female ; Hospitals ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Male ; Outpatients ; Surgical Wound ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; therapy

PURPOSE: This study aimed to understand why mothers do not utilize the prenatal care and delivery services at their local hospital supported by the government program, the Supporting Program for Obstetric Care Underserved Area (SPOU). METHODS: We conducted a focus group interview by recruiting four mothers who delivered in the hospital in their community (a rural underserved obstetric care area) and another four mothers who delivered in the hospital outside of the community. RESULTS: From the finding, the mothers were not satisfied with the quality of services that the community hospital provided, in terms of professionalism of the obstetric care team, and the outdated medical device and facilities. Also, the mothers believed that the hospital in the metropolitan city is better for their health as well as that of their babies. The mothers who delivered in the outside community hospital considered geographical closeness less than they did the quality of obstetric care. The mothers who delivered in the community hospital gave the reason why they chose the hospital, which was convenience and emergency preparedness due to its geographical closeness. However, they were not satisfied with the quality of services provided by the community hospital like the other mothers who delivered in the hospital outside of the community. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, in order to successfully deliver the SPOU program, the Korean government should make an effort in increasing the quality of maternity service provided in the community hospital and improving the physical factors of a community hospital such as outdated medical equipment and facilities.
Delivery, Obstetric/statistics & numerical data ; Emergency Treatment ; Female ; Focus Groups ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Hospitals, Community/*utilization ; Humans ; *Medically Underserved Area ; Mothers/psychology ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care/*psychology/statistics & numerical data ; Patient Satisfaction ; Pregnant Women/psychology ; Prenatal Care/*utilization ; Qualitative Research ; Quality Improvement ; Quality of Health Care ; Republic of Korea ; Trust

To explore the association between particulate matter (PM) and daily hospital visits of coronary heart diseases in Ningbo.Daily data of hospital visits from January 2014 to June 2015 (516 days in total) were obtained from the Yinzhou Health Information System in Ningbo. Daily air pollution data for PM and meteorological data were collected from the database of Ningbo Environmental Monitoring Center and Ningbo Meteorological Bureau. Time-series analysis by quasi-Poisson generalized additive model was used to examine the association between air pollution and hospital visits for coronary heart diseases by adjustment of long-term trends, seasonal patterns and meteorological variables (temperature, humidity), and day of week.An increase of an IQR of PMaccounted for 1.98% (95%:-0.59%-4.63%) increase of hospital visits for coronary heart diseases. The associations between PMand hospital visits for coronary heart diseases among female and the elderly (≥75 years) were stronger (=2.70%,95%:0.01%-5.47%;=3.35%, 95%0.12%-6.69%). The effects of PMattenuated after adjustment for PMPMhad short-term effects on daily hospital visits for coronary heart diseases in Ningbo, and such association was stronger among female and the elderly.
Age Factors ; Aged ; Air Pollutants ; adverse effects ; Air Pollution ; adverse effects ; statistics & numerical data ; China ; epidemiology ; Coronary Artery Disease ; epidemiology ; Female ; Hospitals ; utilization ; Humans ; Humidity ; adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Particulate Matter ; adverse effects ; Seasons ; Sex Factors ; Temperature ; Time Factors

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Intranasal mupirocin and chlorhexidine bathing are candidate strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In Korea, intranasal mupirocin is not available, and mupirocin ointment, an over-the-counter drug, has been used indiscriminately. Furthermore, because it is covered by health insurance, mupirocin is easy to prescribe within hospitals. METHODS: We performed a mupirocin drug utilization review (DUR) within Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital. Annual use of mupirocin was investigated between 2003 and 2013, and monthly consumption of mupirocin was assessed during the final 2-year period. The DUR focused on August 2012, the period of highest use of mupirocin. Also, we investigated trends in mupirocin resistance in MRSA between 2011 and 2013. RESULTS: Annual consumption of mupirocin increased from 3,529 tubes in 2003 to 6,475 tubes in 2013. During August 2012, 817 tubes were prescribed to 598 patients; of these, 84.9% were prescribed to outpatients, and 77.6% at the dermatology department. The most common indication was prevention of skin infections (84.9%), and the ointment was combined with systemic antibiotics in 62.9% of cases. The average duration of systemic antibiotic administration was about 7.8 days. The rate of low-level mupirocin resistance in MRSA increased from 8.0% to 22.0%, and that of high-level mupirocin resistance increased from about 4.0% to about 7.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Inappropriate use of mupirocin is prevalent. Considering the increase in resistance and the future application of intranasal mupirocin, prophylactic use of mupirocin in dermatology departments should be reconsidered.
Administration, Cutaneous ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/*administration & dosage/adverse effects ; Drug Prescriptions ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Drug Utilization Review ; *Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Inappropriate Prescribing/*trends ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/*drug effects ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Mupirocin/*administration & dosage/adverse effects ; Ointments ; Practice Patterns, Physicians'/*trends ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Staphylococcal Skin Infections/diagnosis/*drug therapy/microbiology ; Time Factors

PURPOSE: In this study, we determined the long-term effects of the Independent Capacity Protocol (ICP), in which the emergency department (ED) is temporarily used to stabilize patients, followed by transfer of patients to other facilities when necessary, on crowding metrics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A before and after study design was used to determine the effects of the ICP on patient outcomes in an academic, urban, tertiary care hospital. The ICP was introduced on July 1, 2007 and the before period included patients presenting to the ED from January 1, 2005 to June 31, 2007. The after period began three months after implementing the ICP from October 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010. The main outcomes were the ED length of stay (LOS) and the total hospital LOS of admitted patients. The mean number of monthly ED visits and the rate of inter-facility transfers between emergency departments were also determined. A piecewise regression analysis, according to observation time intervals, was used to determine the effect of the ICP on the outcomes. RESULTS: During the study period the number of ED visits significantly increased. The intercept for overall ED LOS after intervention from the before-period decreased from 8.51 to 7.98 hours [difference 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04 to 1.01] (p=0.03), and the slope decreased from -0.0110 to -0.0179 hour/week (difference 0.0069, 95% CI: 0.0012 to 0.0125) (p=0.02). CONCLUSION: Implementation of the ICP was associated with a sustainable reduction in ED LOS and time to admission over a six-year period.
Aged ; *Clinical Protocols ; *Crowding ; Efficiency, Organizational ; Emergency Service, Hospital/*organization & administration/utilization ; Female ; Hospital Planning/*methods ; Hospitals, Urban/*organization & administration/utilization ; Humans ; Length of Stay/*statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Outcome and Process Assessment (Health Care) ; Patient Admission/statistics & numerical data ; Patient Transfer/statistics & numerical data ; Regression Analysis ; Time ; Time Factors ; Triage