Use of antimicrobial drugs in general hospitals. I. Description of population and definition of methods.

The patterns of use of antimicrobial drugs in a random sample of general hosptials in Pennsylvania were studied. The sample was tested for validity, and all deaths and discharges were analyzed for 10 random days drawn across the year spanning July 1973 to June 1974. Methods were developed for abstracting the hospital records and for determining the reproducibility of the findings of the physician and nonphysician chart reviewers. More than 99% of the requested charts were available. In the 5,288 charts reviewed, most of the required data were readily available. The study population was 84% white and 58% female; most patients were in hospitals that had more than 300 beds and that were located in towns with populations of greater than 10,000. In 41% of the 2,070 antimicrobial courses administered to almost 30% of the patients, an explicit clinical statement of why the drug was being given could be found in the chart. The information for review was found in clinical charts, but in half of the charts, the information required was not on face sheets and discharge summaries.