Prospective Audit and Feedback by Antibiotic Stewardship Teams to Reduce Antibiotic Overuse at Hospital Discharge: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster-Randomized Clinical Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Antibiotics prescribed at hospital discharge are frequently unnecessary or suboptimal. Strategies to improve prescribing are not well defined.

Objective

To evaluate whether a discharge-focused prospective audit and feedback process decreases antibiotic overuse at hospital discharge.

Design, setting, and participants

This stepped-wedge cluster-randomized clinical trial was conducted across participating units at 10 hospitals with antibiotic stewardship (AS) teams and supporting staff from December 5, 2022, to November 17, 2023. After a 24-week baseline period, 1 hospital crossed into the intervention arm every 2 weeks.

Intervention

The intervention consisted of disseminating institutional guidelines for oral antibiotic step-down to frontline prescribe

SUBMITTER: Livorsi DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12789953 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature