14 Nov 2019
Antibiotics may be overused in aged care in Australia
On any given day, almost 10 per cent of residents in aged-care homes in Australia are using an antimicrobial, and around 3 per cent have any signs or symptoms of infection.
These findings come from the latest Aged Care National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey and are summarised in an article in Australian Prescriber today. The article has been published ahead of World Antibiotic Awareness Week (18–24 November 2019).
Leslie Dowson, PhD student at Monash University and her co-authors found that nearly 65 per cent of residents recently prescribed antimicrobials had no documented signs or symptoms of a suspected infection in the week before they started treatment. Also, over a quarter had been using antimicrobials for longer than six months.
Antimicrobials are valuable in aged-care homes to treat infections and reduce the elevated risk of complications.
“However, many people are using antimicrobials for much longer than is needed to treat an infection, or even using them to prevent infections,” Ms Dowson said.
“This puts them at risk of developing infections that become resistant to antimicrobials. As resistant organisms can spread from person to person, this puts other residents at risk.
“The survey, funded by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, showed that in aged-care homes, it is often not recorded why an antimicrobial is being used, when it was started, when it should be reviewed and when it should be stopped. This information should be kept up-to-date and available to all relevant medical staff and carers.”
Senior Infection Control Consultant for NCAS and VICNISS at the Doherty Institute, Associate Professor Noleen Bennett said these results highlight significant scope for improvement of antimicrobial prescribing in aged-care homes.
“Importantly, NCAS and VICNISS are now developing resources to support aged-care homes address the identified issues.”
With the newly updated Aged Care Quality Standards, Australian aged-care homes now must show how they promote best-practice use of antimicrobials.
“By participating in and using the results and recommendations from the Aged Care National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey, aged-care homes can educate staff, and residents and their families about antimicrobial use and make changes in how antimicrobials are used. This should result in better outcomes for residents,” Ms Dowson said.
Read the full Australian Prescriber article.
Next week (18–24 November) is World Antibiotic Awareness Week which focuses on this important issue of antibiotic resistance. More information can be found on the NPS MedicineWise website.