Use of antibiotics in hospitals in south-western France

Data on the use of antibiotics were collected by means of a questionnaire from 49 hospitals in south-western France. Use was expressed as a usage density rate: number of defined daily doses (DDDs) per 1000 patient-days. The average use of antibiotics amounted to 402 DDDs per 1000 patient-days and varied between 60 and 734. In acute-care wards, the amount of antibiotic use increased with the size of the hospital: 461 DDDs per 1000 patient-days for group A (< 100 beds), 510 DDDs per 1000 patient-days for group B (more than 100 and less then 300 beds) and 676 DDDs per 1000 patient-days for group C (> 300 beds). The rate of use differed among different types of hospital areas and varied from 58 for psychiatry departments to more than 1273 DDDs per 1000 patient-days for the infectious diseases departments. Broad-spectrum penicillins were the most frequently prescribed antibiotics. Fluoroquinolone and third-generation cephalosporin use were relatively uniform in the three size categories. This study shows that it is possible for a hospital. to benchmark its consumption with other hospitals that are similar in size. In this way, surveillance of antibiotic use can aid hospitals in targeting infection control efforts. (C) 2004 The Hospital. Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.