PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Zimbwe, Kauke Bakari
AU  - Yona, Yusto Julius
AU  - Chiwambo, Charity Alphonce
AU  - Chandika, Alphonce Bilola
AU  - Kiwelu, Humphrey Sawira
AU  - Kizenga, Omary Salim
AU  - Mleke, Mfaume Michael
AU  - Shabani, Moshi Moshi
TI  - Surveillance of antibiotics use in inpatients at Benjamin Mkapa Zonal Referral Hospital in Dodoma, Tanzania: a point prevalence survey
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-083444
DP  - 2024 Aug 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e083444
VI  - 14
IP  - 8
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/8/e083444.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/8/e083444.full
SO  - BMJ Open2024 Aug 01; 14
AB  - Objective To assess antibiotics prescribing and use patterns for inpatients at Benjamin Mkapa Zonal Referral Hospital (BMH) using the WHO-Point Prevalence Survey (WHO-PPS).Design A cross-sectional survey.Setting The Benjamin Mkapa Zonal Referral Hospital, Dodoma, Tanzania.Participants Inpatient prescriptions, regardless of whether antibiotics were prescribed (n=286) on the day of PPS.Outcome measures Our study analysed the prevalence of antibiotic use at BMH for inpatients, the type of antibiotics used, the indications for use and the proportion of oral and parenteral antibiotics. We also assessed prescription-prescribed antibiotics after a positive antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) result.Results A survey was conducted on 286 prescriptions, which revealed that 30.07% of them included antibiotics. On average, each prescription contained at least 1.6 antibiotics. All prescriptions that included antibiotics were written in generic names, and 77.91% (67/86) of them followed the Standard Treatment Guidelines. Of the prescriptions that included antibiotics, 58.14% (50/86) had a single antibiotic, 20.93% (18/86) had parenteral antibiotics and 79.07% (68/86) had oral antibiotics. Based on AWaRe’s (Access, Watch and Reserve) categorisation of antibiotics, 50% (8/16) were in the Access group, 31.25% (5/16) were in the Watch group, 12.50% (2/16) were in the Reserve group and 6.25% (1/16) were not recommended antimicrobial combinations. Out of 86 prescriptions included antibiotics, only 4.65% showed positive culture growth. However, antibiotics were still prescribed in 29.07% of prescriptions where there was no growth of bacteria, and in 66.28% of prescriptions, antibiotics were prescribed empirically without any requesting of bacteria culture and AST.Conclusion BMH has reduced inpatient Antibiotic Use by half compared with the 2019 WHO-PPS. Adherence to National Treatment Guidelines is suboptimal. Clinicians should use AST results to guide antibiotic prescribing.Data are available upon reasonable request.Data are available on reasonable request from the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital Administration. And following the National Institute for Medical Research’s policy, data can be shared upon request after signing a data transfer agreement.