A survey of emergency physicians' prescription of piperacillin/tazobactam
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Piperacillin/tazobactam (Pip/Taz) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic, often prescribed in emergency departments (EDs). Excessive use of broad-spectrum antibiotics may lead to the rise of antimicrobial resistance, a concerning health issue. We investigated physicians' adherence to regional guidelines and their considerations when prescribing Pip/Taz in the ED.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional survey, a ten-item survey questionnaire was administered to ED physicians in five EDs from 10 January to 7 February 2024.
RESULTS: A total of 261 physicians employed in the ED were invited to participate in the survey. Among these, 144 physicians completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 55.2%. Based on the results, 25% were unaware of the regional guidelines on the prescription of Pip/Taz. In addition, over the past month, 25% had prescribed Pip/Taz in situations where regional guidelines recommended a narrow-spectrum antibiotic, primarily because of concerns regarding the patient's condition (74.3%); 30.6% of those who deviated from guidelines were consultants.
CONCLUSIONS: This study found that a fourth of physicians in EDs were unaware of regional guidelines for prescribing Pip/Taz. Moreover, one in every four physicians purposely deviated from the recommended type of antibiotics, mainly because of concerns about the patient's clinical condition.
FUNDING: None.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not relevant.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
Read the paper
Related studies
- The Matrisome: In Silico Definition and In Vivo Characterization by Proteomics of Normal and Tumor Extracellular Matrices
- The Escherichia coli MG1655 in silico metabolic genotype: Its definition, characteristics, and capabilities
- In silico pharmacology for drug discovery: methods for virtual ligand screening and profiling
- In silico prediction of splice-altering single nucleotide variants in the human genome
- In silico clinical trials: how computer simulation will transform the biomedical industry
- In silico optimization of a guava antimicrobial peptide enables combinatorial exploration for peptide design
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.