Prevalence of antimicrobial use and healthcare-associated infections in China: Results from the first point prevalence survey in 18 hospitals in Shanxi Province.

OBJECTIVES

Inappropriate antimicrobial use (AMU) and healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are important drivers of antimicrobial resistance, but data from the developing world are scarce. We conducted the first point prevalence survey (PPS) to determine the prevalence of AMU and HAIs and the suggested targeted interventions for appropriate AMU and HAI prevention in Shanxi Province, China.

METHODS

A multicentre PPS was performed in 18 hospitals in Shanxi. Detailed data on AMU and HAI were collected using the Global-PPS method developed by the University of Antwerp and the methodology developed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, respectively.

RESULTS

There were 2171 (28.2%) of the 7707 inpatients receiving at least one antimicrobial. The most commonly prescribed antimicrobials were levofloxacin (11.9%), ceftazidime (11.2%), and cefoperazone and beta-lactamase inhibitor (10.3%). Out of the total indications, 89.2% of antibiotics were prescribed for therapeutic, 8.0% for prophylaxis, and 2.8% for either unknown or other. Of the total surgical prophylaxis, 96.0% of antibiotics were given for more than one day. In general, antimicrobials were given mainly parenterally (95.4%) and empirically (83.3%). A total of 264 active HAIs were identified in 239 patients (3.1%), of which 139 (52.3%) were culture positive. The most common HAI was pneumonia (41.3%).

CONCLUSIONS

This survey indicated the relatively low prevalence of AMU and HAIs in Shanxi Province. However, this study has also highlighted several priority areas and targets for quality improvement, and repeated PPSs in the future will be useful to gauge progress at controlling AMU and HAIs.