While the majority of patients receive antibiotics to treat infections, up to 7 percent receive them "for no documented rationale," according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study conducted one-day prevalence surveys in acute hospitals in 10 states between May and September 2011.
More than 5,600 patients received antimicrobial drugs during the study period, 75.9 percent of whom received antimicrobial drugs to treat infections. Nineteen percent received the drugs for surgical prophylaxis and 6.9 percent received them for medical prophylaxis. In another 6.9 percent of patients receiving antimicrobial drugs, there were no documented rationales in the medical records.
"To minimize patient harm and preserve effectiveness, it is imperative to critically examine and improve the ways in which antimicrobial drugs are used," researchers wrote. "Improving antimicrobial use in hospitals benefits individual patients and also contributes to reducing antimicrobial resistance nationally."
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