The use of antimicrobials is high among hospitalized patients, often empirical and not always appropriately indicated. The National Guideline for the Development of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in Healthcare Services (ANVISA, 2023) recommends, among other actions, the prospective audit of antimicrobial prescriptions. The implementation of such audits through the joint work of clinical pharmacists and the Hospital Infection Control Committee, coordinated by an infectious disease specialist, in September 2023 marked a milestone and enabled this study. To compare the consumption of meropenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, and vancomycin before and after implementation of the audit, using Defined Daily Dose (DDD) as a consumption indicator, to evaluate its impact on antimicrobial prescribing. A retrospective study analyzed DDD data from the hospital management system between January–August 2023 and September 2023–June 2024 in a public general hospital in Joinville, Santa Catarina. Numerical variables were compared using the Student’s t -test. Reductions in DDD were observed for all evaluated antibiotics: meropenem decreased by 20.9% (mean pre = 188.5 ± 95.5; post = 141.8 ± 59.2; p = 0.159), piperacillin-tazobactam by 27.5% (mean pre = 549.9 ± 73.4; post = 403.1 ± 68.4; p = 0.009), and vancomycin by 43.4% (mean pre = 114.9 ± 19.1; post = 59.5 ± 20.0; p < 0.001). These results demonstrate more effective antimicrobial control after audit implementation. Antimicrobial stewardship is essential for infection control and combating microbial resistance. The joint efforts of clinical pharmacists and infectious disease specialists significantly reduced broad-spectrum antibiotic use, contributing to the prevention of multidrug-resistant microorganism selection and dissemination.
Merlos et al. (Sun,) studied this question.