The applicability of guidelines on antimicrobials provided by the Danish Health Authority

Abstract

Introduction: Our objective was to investigate the know-ledge of "Guidelines on prescribing antibiotics for physicians and others in Denmark" published by the Danish Health Au-thority in 2012, and the usefulness of these guidelines for Danish hospital doctors.

Methods: We collected information on the perceived aware-ness and usefulness of the guidelines using a ques-tionnaire distributed at two regional hospitals. Furthermore, to evaluate the use of the guidelines, we collected data about 310 patients treated with antimicrobials at the two hospitals.

Results: Less than 50% of the respondents knew that the guidelines existed and among those who did know of the existence of the guidelines, less than 50% found that the guidelines were applicable to their daily clinical work. Regarding sampling of microbiological tests, we found that in 188 of the 310 cases both urine and blood had been sampled. A discontinuation date was registered in the medication module at the time of the prescription in 27% of the prescriptions. In terms of reassessment, we evaluated 282 cases and found that a reassessment had taken place in 62% of these cases.

Conclusions: The results of the survey indicate that knowledge and use of the guidelines are sparse, and our data from the audits underline these data.

Funding: The Fund for the Prevention of Hospital-acquired Infections, the Danish Ministry of Health (R. no. 1406148) and the Fund for Improving Skills in Infection Control, Central Denmark Region, funded the study.

Trial registration: not relevant. The Danish Data Protection Agency (R. no.: 1-16-02-84-15) and the Central Denmark Region approved the project.