Pharmacists’ role in antimicrobial stewardship and relationship with antibiotic consumption in hospitals: An observational multicentre study

Objectives: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) teams around the world include pharmacists; however, their impact is relatively unknown. This study aimed to explore the relationship between pharmacists’ actions and antibiotic consumption. Methods: Hospital pharmacists involved in the French antibiotic consumption surveillance network (ATB-Raisin) were invited to participate in a retrospective observational multicentre study. Collected data were: the previous year’s (2016) antibiotic consumption expressed in daily defined dose per 1000 patient-days; AMS measures, including pharmacist-specific actions; and use of a computerised prescription order entry (CPOE) system. Associations between antibiotic consumption and AMS measures were assessed by linear regression, after adjustment for hospital activities. Results: Annual data for 2016 from 77 hospitals (7 260 000 bed-days in 24 000 beds) were analysed. Pharmacists were involved in AMS programs in 73% of hospitals, and were the antibiotic advisor in 25%. Pharmaceutical review of prescriptions was organised in almost all hospitals (97%). The univariable analysis identified five measures associated with lower overall antibiotic consumption: CPOE use (if >80% of prescriptions or 100%), pharmaceutical review (if >80% of beds or 100%) and the antibiotic advisor being a pharmacist (P = 0.04, P = 0.004 and P = 0.003, respectively). In the multivariable analysis, two explanatory variables were significantly and independently associated with a lower overall antibiotic consumption: the antibiotic advisor being a pharmacist and a pharmaceutical review covering all beds (–19.9% [–31.6%; –8.1%], P = 0.002 and –18.3% [–34.0%; –2.6%], P = 0.03, respectively). Conclusions: Antibiotic consumption was lower when the antibiotic advisor was a pharmacist and when the pharmaceutical team reviewed all prescriptions. These results highlight that actions initiated by pharmacists have a positive impact and should be supported.