Antibiotic use and cost its in nosocomial Pneumonia infection: Evidence from Intensive care units of a large hospital

Pneumonia is one of the most common nosocomial infections in intensive care units.  In the treatment of healthcare-related infections, antibiotics account for a significant portion of the cost of medication in the intensive care unit (ICU).The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in antibiotic use in terms of frequency and cost of nosocomial infection in ICU at Imam Reza 1000 Bed Referal Hospital in Mashhad.

The present study is a descriptive and cross-sectional on the records of hospitalized patients with nosocomial pneumonia in Internal and Surgical ICU in Imam Reza hospital in 2016. The population was surveyed in full.  Refer to patient records, identify antibiotics consumed Based on the prescribed dose for all patients studied, separation was confirmed for each hospitalization day. Then calculations were performed for the mean frequency of each drug item and its cost per day for one patient for the periods before, during and after pneumonia.

The results showed that the average cost of antibiotics per day for each patient during the period of nosocomial infection was 538431 million Rials and 343979 million Rials in the previous period. That is a 57 percent increase compared to the pre-pneumonia period. There was also a 33 percent increase in the incidence of pneumonia during the period.

Over 50% increase in the volume of prescribed antibiotics during pneumonia nosocomial infection is important both in terms of health care costs and microbial resistance. The findings of the present study can be used to evaluate strategies to reduce this infection through cost-effectiveness studies.