Table 5.
Univariable analysis of antibiotic related variables by specialty
| Medicine 162 n (%) | Surgery 164 n (%) | p value * | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of courses of antibiotics | 395 | 461 | – |
| Route of antibiotics (as a total of all courses) | |||
| Intravenous | 200 (51) | 395 (86) | < 0.001 |
| Oral | 195(49) | 66 (14) | |
| Number of antibiotics during spell | |||
| 1 | 36 (22.22) | 12 (7.32) | 0.001 |
| 2 | 52 (32.10) | 68 (41.46) | |
| ≥ 3 | 74 (45.68) | 84 (51.22) | |
| Antibiotic exposure days | |||
| 1–3 days | 65 (40) | 56 (34) | 0.134 |
| 4–7 days | 55 (34) | 52 (32) | |
| 7–14 days | 28 (17) | 33 (20) | |
| ≥ 15 | 14 (9) | 23 (14) | |
| Cumulative antibiotic days | |||
| 1–7 days | 94 (58) | 70 (43) | 0.016 |
| 8–14 days | 46 (28) | 44 (27) | |
| ≥ 15 | 22 (14) | 50 (30) | |
| Antibiotic rank | |||
| Narrow | 11(6.79) | 6 (3.66) | 0.507 |
| Broad | 98 (60.49) | 95 (57.93) | |
| Extended | 47 (29.00) | 56 (34.15) | |
| Restricted | 6 (3.70) | 7 (4.27) | |
| Change to initial antibiotic course | |||
| No change/discontinued | 76 (46.91) | 90 (54.88) | 0.0037 |
| Antibiotic escalated | 31 (19.14) | 49 (29.88) | |
| Antibiotic de-escalated | 55(33.95) | 25 (15.24) | |
| Antibiotic compliant to local policy | |||
| Yes | 131 (80.86) | 108 (65.85) | < 0.001 |
| No | 30 (18.52) | 35 (21.34) | |
| Unclear | 1 (0.62) | 21 (12.80) | |
| Antibiotic compliant to local policy (‘unclear’ treated as missing) | |||
| Yes | 131 (81.37) | 108 (75.52) | 0.215 |
| No | 30 (18.63) | 35 (24.48) | |
| Antibiotic prescribed on discharge | |||
| Yes | 80 (49) | 73 (45) | 0.677 |
| No | 67 (41) | 74 (45) | |
| No data/Patient died | 15 (9) | 17 (10) | |
*P values calculated using Pearson Chi-Squared test or Fisher’s exact test