Antibiotic prescribing and resistance
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Patient-level antimicrobials and outcomes observational study (PLAMOS)
IRAS ID
204543
Contact name
Ed Moran
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Heart of England NHS FT
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 1 days
Research summary
Antibiotic resistance is increasing and is a major safety issue, and public health priority. The presence of an antibiotic exerts evolutionary pressure on bacteria and is associated with the emergence of resistant strains Such strains are associated with increases in length of hospital stay, cost of care, and mortality. Studies in primary care – facilitated by many years of electronic prescribing systems – have demonstrated an association between antibiotic use and the development of resistance within individual patients. Hospitals have been late adopters of electronic prescribing systems - consequently there is a dearth of patient-level studies within institutions. Hospitals are the biggest consumers of the very broad-spectrum agents used for the treatment of resistant organisms. Inappropriate use is associated with the development of highly resistant, near-untreatable, bacterial strains. It is vital that we improve our understanding of this phenomenon within hospitals at the patient-level if we are implement evidence-based measures to preserve antibiotic effectiveness and slow the emergence of resistance.
Heart of England NHS FT was among the earliest users of electronic prescribing systems in the UK and thus has several years of patient level data. This study aims to link this information with hospital database of microbiology results, admission/discharges, length of stay, outcome and co-morbidities. This will allow to see if use of certain agents in individual patients relates to their outcome, the nature of bacteria cultured from them in later years, and how use relates to the emergence of resistance. In the future this may lead to evidence based interventions to educate doctors on appropriate use and slow the emergence of resistance, improving outcomes for patients.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0234
Date of REC Opinion
25 May 2016
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion