Multilevel modelling for antibiotic usage and resistance

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Multilevel modelling to explore the link between antibiotic usage and antibiotic resistance in UK hospitals

  • IRAS ID

    261623

  • Contact name

    Gwenan Knight

  • Contact email

    gwen.knight@lshtm.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 1 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Antibiotic resistance is an increasingly serious global issue. To prevent the further spread of resistance, we must understand what causes it. Quantifying the drivers of resistance, such as the direct importance of antibiotic use at the hospital level on numbers of infections with resistant bacteria is one key aspect.
    Several shortages of antibiotics in the past few years (e.g. Piperacillin / Tazobactam in the Spring/Summer of 2017) have resulted in sudden, dramatic changes in antibiotic use. Such shortages provide a “natural experiment” to explore the relationship between numbers of infections with resistant bacteria and antibiotic usage in clinical settings. Furthermore, as electronic data collection in UK hospital becomes standard, more data will be available to understand the changes in antibiotic resistance and tools are needed to explore this data for optimal clinical care. This study aims to provide an analysis and framework for understanding how usage and resistance are correlated to inform potential targets for stewardship control and ultimately slow resistance development and spread.

  • REC name

    West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    19/WM/0342

  • Date of REC Opinion

    19 Nov 2019

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion