Surveillance study demonstrates declining antibiotic prescribing and resistance for urinary tract infections in older adults, indicating the success of national stewardship programs.
Key Points
To evaluate longitudinal antibiotic prescribing patterns and antimicrobial resistance trends for urinary tract infections in older Danish adults to determine the impact of national stewardship strategies.
Conducted a national register-based surveillance study among primary healthcare users aged ≥70 years in Denmark using the Register of Medicinal Product Statistics and the Danish Microbiology Database.
Tracked consumption of pivmecillinam, trimethoprim, nitrofurantoin, and sulfamethizole from 1999 to 2023, paired with resistance data from 2018 to 2023 and a review of quality improvement initiatives.
Antibiotic consumption for urinary tract infections peaked in 2014 at 447 prescriptions per 1,000 individuals aged ≥70 years and declined by 28.4% by 2023.
Resistance rates to pivmecillinam, trimethoprim, sulfamethizole, and nitrofurantoin in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae decreased significantly between 2018 and 2023 alongside the reduction in drug consumption.