Antibiotics Overprescribed for Many Pediatric Infections at Discharge

Only one in five children discharged from the hospital with a diagnosis of infection received optimal prescriptions for antibiotics in both selection and duration, according to an AHRQ-funded study in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. Researchers analyzed electronic health records from 1,206 encounters across four children’s hospitals with antibiotic stewardship programs throughout 2021, including 226 cases of community-acquired pneumonia, 417 urinary tract infections, and 563 skin or soft-tissue infections. They defined optimal prescribing as selecting medications and treatment durations recommended by national and hospital guidelines—for example, a 4- to 6-day course of amoxicillin for pneumonia. Overall, the choice of antibiotic was optimal in 77 percent of encounters, treatment duration was optimal in only 26 percent, and only 20 percent were optimal in choice and duration. The findings point to a need for stewardship interventions that target discharge prescribing, an area often overlooked in current programs. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40196890/