Impact of urinary selective antibiogram in primary care

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Selective reporting of antibiotic susceptibility test results (selective antibiogram), is increasingly recognized as one of the key strategies of antibiotic stewardship programs. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of selective susceptibility reporting on ciprofloxacin utilization and Escherichia coli susceptibility to ciprofloxacin in the outpatient setting. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A selective reporting policy was created and implemented in 2011. The policy involves the non-reporting of ciprofloxacin susceptibility to Enterobacteriaceae isolated in a urine sample when there was susceptibility to other agents with narrow spectrum. The outcomes evaluated were outpatient ciprofloxacin utilization and E. coli susceptibility to ciprofloxacin between January 2011 and December 2018 RESULTS: Between 2011 and 2018 we detected an increased susceptibility rate of E. coli to ciprofloxacin from 79% to 87% (p < 0.001) and a decreased incidence rate of E. coli resistant to ciprofloxacin from 2.52 to 0.87 (p < 0.001). The ciprofloxacin dropped from 0.75 defined daily doses (DHD) to 0.36 DHD and there was a compensatory increase in nitrofurantoin and fosfomycin utilization. DISCUSSION: Our study showed that selective reporting can influence prescribing practice in a community level and encourages clinicians to select more narrow-spectrum and cost-effective antimicrobial agents in UTIs. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that selective antibiogram should be considered an effective prevention strategy to reduce targeted antimicrobial utilization.