Research Article
Mohamad Ibrahim* and Zeinab
Abstract
Background: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) have been found to be an effective method for minimizing antibiotic misuse. Method: A study comparing the quality of antibiotic prescriptions between a one-year period before ASP implementation and a one-year period after its implementation. For each period, antimicrobial prescriptions were evaluated by an antimicrobial stewardship team and classified as appropriate or inappropriate. Results: An improvement between Phase I and Phase II was found in all antibiotic therapies. Discussion: The overall antibiotic inappropriate rate was 45.8% before implemented the stewardship program, which is relatively high and consistent with the findings of other studies mentioned in the literature. Conclusion: Applying the stewardship program led to a significant decrease of the inappropriate use of antibiotics at the hospital.