Trends in hospital antibacterial consumption: a retrospective analysis of reimbursement data, Belgium 2017 to 2022.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUNDThe COVID-19 pandemic has challenged efforts to optimise rational antibacterial use due to uncertainties in treatment protocols.AIMWe investigated the impact of COVID-19 on hospital antibacterial consumption in Belgium from 2017 to 2022, relative to the general and hospitalised population.METHODSWe analysed national reimbursement data using defined daily doses (DDD) and three metrics: DDD/1,000 inhabitants/day (DID), DDD/1,000 patient days (PD) and DDD/1,000 admissions. We performed linear regressions to analyse 6-year trends (2017-2022) and estimated predicted consumption from 2020 to 2022 using the compound annual growth rate from 2017 to 2019. To assess the impact of COVID-19, we compared observed and predicted relative changes in antibacterial consumption between 2019 (pre-pa

SUBMITTER: Bonacini L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12413603 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature