engleski

Antimicrobial drug use in hospitalised paediatric patients A cross-national comparison between Germany and Croatia

Purpose: To compare the utilisation of systemic antimicrobials at the paediatric units of the university hospitals in Marburg (Germany) and Rijeka (Croatia). Methods: A prospective, observational analysis of hospital records from 300 incident users of antimicrobials in each study centre that were younger than 19 years. Antimicrobial utilisation was analysed in six gender-specific age groups with respect to drug choice, duration of treatment and hospital stay, indication and route of administration. The extent of antimicrobial drug use was assessed as number of treatment courses. Results: In each hospital, more than 1/3 of patients were younger than 1 year. The duration of hospital stay was about two-fold longer in Rijeka (18.5 +/- 5.8 d) than in Marburg (8.6 +/- 3.8 d). Pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections were the most common indications in Marburg (38.6 %) and Rijeka (58.7 %). The cumulative percentage of patients treated with the same number of different antimicrobials was lower in Rijeka than in Marburg. The most commonly used antimicrobials were cefuroxim and ampicillin in Marburg, but ceftriaxone and cefotaxim in Rijeka accounting for 76 % and 57 % of antimicrobial courses, respectively. Conclusions: This cross-national comparison has revealed a substantial difference between the two study centers in the pattern of antimicrobial drug use, despite the similar patient demographics and indications However, further identification of drug choice determinants is warranted.

antimicrobial ; children ; paediatric ; inpatient ; drug utilisation

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