Cross-Sectional Survey on the Current Role of Clinical Pharmacists among Antimicrobial Stewardship Programmes in Catalonia: Much Ado about Nothing

• Published in: Antibiotics (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 4; p. 717
• Main Authors: Echeverria-Esnal, Daniel, Hernández, Sergi, Murgadella-Sancho, Anna, García-Paricio, Ramón, Ortonobes, Sara, Barrantes-González, Melisa, Padullés, Ariadna, Almendral, Alexander, Tuset, Montse, Limón, Enric, Grau, Santiago, On Behalf Of The Catalan Infection Control Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme VINCat-Asp
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.04.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Annotations; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial resistance; antimicrobial stewardship; Computers; Cross-sectional studies; days of treatment; defined daily doses; Didacticism; Drug resistance; Drug resistance in microorganisms; Drug stores; Education; Hospitals; Infection control; Infectious diseases; Information technology; Medical records; Pharmacists; pharmacy; Physicians; prospective audit and feedback; Services; Statistical significance; Surveys; Training; Workforce planning; Spain; France; United States > US; pharmacy; prospective audit and feedback; antimicrobial stewardship; information technology; days of treatment; defined daily doses
• ISSN: 2079-6382; 2079-6382
• DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12040717

Antimicrobial resistance killed 1.27 million people in 2019, so urgent actions are desperately needed. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) are essential to optimize antimicrobial use. The objective was to acknowledge the current role of clinical pharmacists engaged in ASP activities in Catalonia. This was a cross-sectional survey shared through the Catalan Infection Control Programme (VINCat). The survey consisted of four sections and was sent by e-mail. A total of 69.0% of the centres answered. Pharmacists dedicated a median of 5.0 h per week (2.1 h/week/100 acute care beds), representing 0.15 full time equivalents. The ASP lacked information technology (IT) support, as only 16.3% of centres automatically calculated defined daily doses and days of therapy. Those with less than 15% of their time available for ASPs conducted fewer clinical activities, especially prospective audits and feedback. Those without official infectious diseases training also performed fewer clinical activities, but training was less determinant than IT support or time. Pharmacists performed interventions mostly through annotation in the medical records. Clinical pharmacists from Catalonia dedicated to ASPs present an important lack of time and IT support to perform clinical activities. Pharmacists should also improve their clinical skills and try to conduct clinical advice to prescribers, either by phone or face-to-face.