Table 2.

Antibiotic Prescriptions on the Medical Wards

	Survey 1			Survey 2			Survey 3
Antibiotic	Proportion of Prescriptions, Number a %		Duration, Days, Median (IQR)	Proportion of Prescriptions, Number a %		Duration, Days, Median (IQR)	Proportion of Prescriptions, Number a %		Duration, Days, Median (IQR)
3GCb	193/241	80.1	5.0 (3.0–8.0)	80/121	66.1	4.0 (2.0–7.0)	177/330	53.6	4.0 (2.0–7.0)
Ciprofloxacin	18/241	7.5	4.0 (3.0–4.0)	20/121	16.5	6.0 (5.0–7.0)	44/330	13.3	3 (1.75–7.25)
Amoxicillin	14/241	5.8	3.0 (2.0–5.0)	12/121	9.9	5.0 (2.5–7.0)	42/330	12.7	3.5 (1.0–6.0)
Metronidazole	9/241	3.7	7.0 (5.0–8.0)	4/121	3.3	3.0 (2.5–3.5)	33/330	10.0	3.0 (2.0–6.0)
Flucloxacillin	3/241	0.9	5.0 (3.0–11.5)	0	0	-	5/330	1.5	6.0 (1.0–15.0)
Erythromycin	2/241	0.8	4.0 (3.0–4.0)	0	0	-	1/330	0.3	1
Benzylpenicillin	1/241	0.4	6.0	1/121	0.8	1	1/330	0.3	12
Co-amoxiclav	1/241	0.4	6.0	1/120	0.8	3	9/330	2.7	2.0 (2.0–3.0)
Doxycycline	0	0	-	2/121	1.7	4.4 (4.25–4.75)	2/330	0.6	5
Gentamicin	0	0	-	1/121	0.8	1	4/330	1.2	1.5 (0–3.5)
Co-trimoxazole	0	0	-	0	0	-	12/330	3.6	4 (2.75–5.25)
All	241	100	4.5 (3.0–7.0)	120	100	5.0 (2.0–7.0)	330	100	4 (2–6)
Total costc	US$1907.04			US$584.78			US$1404.34
Cost per patientc	US$9.39			US$5.85			US$7.02

Abbreviations: 3CG, third-generation cephalosporin; IQR, interquartile range.

^a The denominator is the number of individual antibiotic prescriptions in each survey, not the number of patients. An individual antibiotic prescription was defined as each prescription written on the patient’s chart. If the antibiotic was switched, this was counted as a second prescription.

^bCefotaxime was used in place of ceftriaxone during a period of ceftriaxone shortage in 2017.

^c2017 US Dollars.