India Antimicrobial Stewardship and Resistance (INTEREST): A Needs Assessment Survey

Abstract

Background: The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance is a major problem in India with significant knowledge on whether this is a systems–based, prescriber and patient characteristic based or diagnostic technologies–based issue. Methods: An electronic survey was sent to select distribution list of intensive care units (ICU) and hospital inpatient (medicine ward) providers from India. Survey questions included antimicrobial clinical practice data, access to electronic medical records, microbiological diagnostic techniques, and access to microbiology data. The survey focused on antimicrobial prescription trends and their association with diagnostic techniques. Results: There were 90 responses from 18 states in 65 ZIP codes. They had median of 187.5 beds (IQR, 40–470). Representative responders had a median age of 40 years (IQR, 31–53). Among the responders, 73 (81%) were men. Of the 90 responses, 48 providers (52%) practiced solely in ICUs (medical and surgical) and 40 providers (45%) practiced solely on the medical ward or floor, with the rest practicing in other units. In total, 31 centers (34%) reported full access to electronic medical records, and 53 centers (59%) had access to wi-fi or Internet. Interestingly, 27 centers (30%) needed to use personal provider phone data for Internet access. Only 26 centers (29%) had electronic microbiological data. Also, 63 respondents (70%) agreed to de-escalation behavior after receiving microbiological data. In addition, 55 respondents (61%) agreed that patients have easy access to outpatient antibiotics without an appropriate prescription, over the counter. Furthermore, 58 responders (64%) said that antibiotic resistance was a major problem at their center, and 61 responders (68%) were familiar with antimicrobial stewardship programs. Among the centers, 69 (77%) had no access to formal infectious disease programs at their center. Only 27 centers (30%) had a formal Clostridium difficile–associated infection reporting and control program. Only 28 centers (31%) had a formal occupational health program. Conclusions: In a large-scale, semistructured, online survey, most issues related to easy availability of antibiotics and lack of “electronization” of medical and microbiological records. It was reassuring that most providers expressed knowledge of the existing antimicrobial stewardship program.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None