AHRQ Patient Safety Network ► Diagnostic errors that lead to inappropriate antimicrobial use.

AHRQ Patient Safety Network





Diagnostic errors that lead to inappropriate antimicrobial use.

Filice GA, Drekonja DM, Thurn JR, Hamann GM, Masoud BT, Johnson JR. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2015 May 18; [Epub ahead of print].

Overuse of antibiotics is a major factor in the development of certain types of health care–associated infections. This retrospective study found that unnecessary antibiotic use was often a result of diagnostic error, particularly in patients who were empirically treated for urinary tract infections without clear diagnostic evidence. The results of this study imply that addressing diagnostic uncertainty should be a component ofantimicrobial stewardship programs.

PubMed citation 
Available at 

Related Resources

COMMENTARY

Epidemiology of medical error.

Weingart SN, Wilson RM, Gibberd RW, Harrison B. BMJ. 2000;320:774-777.

COMMENTARY

Inappropriate Antibiotic Use.

Babcock HM, Fraser VJ. AHRQ WebM&M [serial online]. June 2003.

COMMENTARY

ISMP medication error report analysis.

Cohen MR. Hosp Pharm. 2007;42:498-499.

COMMENTARY

Improving heparin safety: a multidisciplinary invited conference.

Peterson C, Ham CW, Vanderveen T. Hosp Pharm. 2008;43:491-497.

View all related resources...