Implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low-middle-income country

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship programs are limited in resources to provide real-time assistance with antibiotic prescribing in healthcare settings in low-middle-income countries. The potential of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) for improving antibiotic stewardship efforts in resourc...

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Main Authors: Nosheen Nasir, Beenish Khalid Mehmood, Safia Awan, Saadia Sattar, Salma Tajuddin, Sonia Qureshi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213716524002662
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author Nosheen Nasir
Beenish Khalid Mehmood
Safia Awan
Saadia Sattar
Salma Tajuddin
Sonia Qureshi
author_facet Nosheen Nasir
Beenish Khalid Mehmood
Safia Awan
Saadia Sattar
Salma Tajuddin
Sonia Qureshi
author_sort Nosheen Nasir
collection DOAJ
description Background: Antimicrobial stewardship programs are limited in resources to provide real-time assistance with antibiotic prescribing in healthcare settings in low-middle-income countries. The potential of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) for improving antibiotic stewardship efforts in resource-constrained settings is largely unexplored. Our study aims to assess physicians' attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing, and the impact of a CDSS tool on prescribing practices at a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional pre and post-CDSS intervention survey was conducted among all physicians prescribing antibiotics and data was collected on a pre-tested questionnaire on antibiotic use, antimicrobial stewardship, and source of information. RESULTS: Of the 263 physicians who responded to the survey, 63.5% (n=167) were females and the majority 54.4% (n=142) were practicing medicine. 33.9% (89/263) of the physicians were unaware of the institutional antibiotic guidelines. 66% (111/168) were not satisfied with the current electronic pdf-based guideline format. Furthermore, 52.6% of physicians proposed that the availability of a mobile application would greatly enhance access to the guidelines. After the mhealth-based CDSS intervention (Figure 1) the accessibility of guidelines via mobile applications and the internet increased from 7.69% to 17.58% and 15.64% to 24.18% respectively. Additionally, there was an improvement in adherence to hospital guidelines from 29.6% to 31.65% (Figures 2 and 3). CONCLUSION: Our study identified barriers to resource utilization for appropriate antibiotic prescribing which led to the development of a local guideline-based clinical decision support system and resulted in better guideline adherence among the prescribing physicians.
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spelling doaj-art-88fee866298c437cb19abfae484d62232025-08-20T01:57:48ZengElsevierJournal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance2213-71652024-12-01392910.1016/j.jgar.2024.10.089Implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low-middle-income countryNosheen Nasir0Beenish Khalid Mehmood1Safia Awan2Saadia Sattar3Salma Tajuddin4Sonia Qureshi5Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, PakistanDepartment of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, PakistanDepartment of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, PakistanDepartment of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, PakistanDepartment of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, PakistanDepartment of Paediatrics, Aga Khan University, Karachi, PakistanBackground: Antimicrobial stewardship programs are limited in resources to provide real-time assistance with antibiotic prescribing in healthcare settings in low-middle-income countries. The potential of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) for improving antibiotic stewardship efforts in resource-constrained settings is largely unexplored. Our study aims to assess physicians' attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing, and the impact of a CDSS tool on prescribing practices at a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional pre and post-CDSS intervention survey was conducted among all physicians prescribing antibiotics and data was collected on a pre-tested questionnaire on antibiotic use, antimicrobial stewardship, and source of information. RESULTS: Of the 263 physicians who responded to the survey, 63.5% (n=167) were females and the majority 54.4% (n=142) were practicing medicine. 33.9% (89/263) of the physicians were unaware of the institutional antibiotic guidelines. 66% (111/168) were not satisfied with the current electronic pdf-based guideline format. Furthermore, 52.6% of physicians proposed that the availability of a mobile application would greatly enhance access to the guidelines. After the mhealth-based CDSS intervention (Figure 1) the accessibility of guidelines via mobile applications and the internet increased from 7.69% to 17.58% and 15.64% to 24.18% respectively. Additionally, there was an improvement in adherence to hospital guidelines from 29.6% to 31.65% (Figures 2 and 3). CONCLUSION: Our study identified barriers to resource utilization for appropriate antibiotic prescribing which led to the development of a local guideline-based clinical decision support system and resulted in better guideline adherence among the prescribing physicians.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213716524002662Antibiotic StewardshipClinical Decision Support toolmhealth
spellingShingle Nosheen Nasir
Beenish Khalid Mehmood
Safia Awan
Saadia Sattar
Salma Tajuddin
Sonia Qureshi
Implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low-middle-income country
Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance
Antibiotic Stewardship
Clinical Decision Support tool
mhealth
title Implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low-middle-income country
title_full Implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low-middle-income country
title_fullStr Implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low-middle-income country
title_full_unstemmed Implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low-middle-income country
title_short Implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low-middle-income country
title_sort implementation of an antibiotic stewardship clinical decision support tool and its impact on attitudes and behaviors towards antibiotic prescribing in a low middle income country
topic Antibiotic Stewardship
Clinical Decision Support tool
mhealth
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213716524002662
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