Kruger D, Dlamini N N, Meyer J C, Godman B, Kurdi A, Lennon M, Bennie M, Schellack N
School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa.
Pharmacy, Private Hospital, Pretoria, South Africa.
Hosp Pract (1995). 2021 Aug;49(3):184-193. doi: 10.1080/21548331.2021.1889213. Epub 2021 Mar 12.
Determining antimicrobial utilization patterns in hospitals can be a challenge given personnel and resource constraints with paper-based systems. A web-based application (APP) was developed in South Africa to address this, building on a recent point prevalence survey (PPS) using a paper-based system. Consequently, there was a need to test and evaluate the ease of use of a newly developed app and potential time saving versus paper-based methods for PPS. The findings can be used to further refine the APP.
The developed app was tested in a large academic public hospital in a PPS in South Africa. During data collection, the app was evaluated for functionality on 35 variables and subsequently refined. After data collection, the app was evaluated in terms of its time-saving potential and ease of use.
181 patient's files were surveyed across 13 wards in the hospital, with the antimicrobial usage findings similar to the previous paper-based study in the same hospital. The median age for males was 45.5 years and 42 years for females. Overall 80 out of 181 (44%) patients received antibiotics. Whilst 38% (12 out of 31) of patients in the adult surgical ward received antimicrobials, the prevalence was the highest (78%) in the pediatric medical wards. All the data collectors were confident in using the app after training and found the tool is not complex at all to use. In addition, the time taken to plan for the study and to collect data was considerably reduced. Reduced time spent in data collection and analysis is important for timely instigation of quality improvement programs in resource limited settings.
All data collectors would recommend the app for future PPSs. Several concerns with data entry were identified, which have now been addressed. The app development has been successful and is now being deployed across South Africa as part of a national PPS as well as wider.
鉴于基于纸质系统存在人员和资源限制，确定医院抗菌药物使用模式可能具有挑战性。南非开发了一种基于网络的应用程序（APP）来解决这一问题，该程序基于最近使用纸质系统进行的现患率调查（PPS）。因此，有必要测试和评估新开发的应用程序的易用性，以及与基于纸质方法进行PPS相比潜在的时间节省情况。研究结果可用于进一步完善该APP。
在南非一家大型学术公立医院的PPS中对开发的应用程序进行了测试。在数据收集过程中，对该应用程序在35个变量上的功能进行了评估，并随后进行了完善。数据收集完成后，对该应用程序的省时潜力和易用性进行了评估。
对医院13个病房的181份患者病历进行了调查，抗菌药物使用情况的调查结果与该医院之前基于纸质的研究相似。男性的中位年龄为45.5岁，女性为42岁。总体而言，181名患者中有80名（44%）接受了抗生素治疗。虽然成人外科病房38%（31名患者中的12名）的患者接受了抗菌药物治疗，但儿科内科病房的患病率最高（78%）。所有数据收集人员在接受培训后都对使用该应用程序充满信心，并发现该工具使用起来一点也不复杂。此外，研究规划和数据收集所需的时间大幅减少。在资源有限的环境中，减少数据收集和分析所花费的时间对于及时启动质量改进计划很重要。
所有数据收集人员都推荐该应用程序用于未来的PPS。发现了一些数据录入方面的问题，目前这些问题已得到解决。该应用程序的开发很成功，现在正作为全国PPS的一部分在南非及更广泛地区进行部署。
