Analysis of antimicrobial drug usage in psychiatric specialized hospitals during the pandemic in China

ABSTRACT

Background

This study aims to compare antimicrobial drug usage in our hospital to Jiangsu Province and China from 2020 to 2022.

Research design and methods

A detailed analysis was performed using data from the National Antimicrobial Drug Clinical Application Monitoring Network. Several parameters were studied: the rate of antimicrobial drug use, number and types of drugs used, the rate of combined use, rate of microbiological examinations, drug use intensity, and cumulative Defined Daily Doses (DDDs).

Results

From 2020 to 2022, our hospital’s antimicrobial drug usage rate was consistently lower than Jiangsu Province and China. The average number of drug types and the combined drug use rate were higher in 2020 but fell below those in Jiangsu Province and China in 2021 and 2022. Our microbiological examination rate consistently surpassed that of Jiangsu Province and China. Furthermore, our Antimicrobial Usage Density and cumulative DDDs were notably lower. While AUD remained stable, DDDs showed a decreasing trend. The most dominant drug in DDDs was cefditoren, a third-generation cephalosporin.

Conclusions

During the pandemic years, our hospital not only met the requirements for antimicrobial drug usage, microbiological examination, AUD, and cumulative DDDs but also demonstrated a consistent year-by-year decrease in drug usage and DDDs.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychiatric hospital
• antimicrobial drugs
• DDDs
• AUD
• rational drug use

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Ethics statement

All experimental protocols were approved by Wuxi Mental Health Center. The ethics approval and informed consent have been waived by the Ethics Committee of Wuxi Mental Health Center. All methods were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.

Data availability statement

The dataset generated during and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author contributions

Conceptualization and design, Zhiqiang Du and Haohao Zhu; methodology, all authors; software, Zhiqiang Du; data acquisition and investigation: all authors; formal analysis, Zhiqiang Du, Qin Zhou and Ying Jiang; writing – original draft preparation, Zhiqiang Du, Qin Zhou, Ying Jiang and Haohao Zhu; writing. Review and editing, all authors. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [82104244], Wuxi Municipal Science and Technology Bureau [K20231039 and K20231049], Top Talent Support Program for young and middle-aged people of Wuxi Health Committee [HB2023088], Scientific Research Program of Wuxi Health Commission [Q202101 and ZH202110], Wuxi Taihu Talent Project [WXTTP2021], Medical Key Discipline Program of Wuxi Health Commission [FZXK2021012].