Optimizing antimicrobial prescribing: Are clinicians following national trends in methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections rather than local data when treating MRSA wound infections

Table 1 Proportion of variance (r ² ) in zip code level antimicrobial prescribing that could be explained by zip code level MRSA wound infection rates

Zip code level antimicrobial prescribing rate	Zip code level infection rate (R²)^a	Zip code level infection rate
		(Coefficient of partial determination)^b
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole	0.04	0.03
Cephalexin	0.05	0.03
Linezolid	0.09	0.09
Clindamycin	0.06	0.03

^aR² represents the unadjusted proportion of variance in prescribing that could be explained by MRSA rates using population weighted linear regression; ^bCoefficient of Partial Determination represents the marginal effect of MRSA infection on prescribing when time was already accounted for in the model.
Source: Author’s calculations with susceptibility information from The Surveillance Network® (TSN) and prescription data derived from IMS Health Xponent™ January 1999-December 2007, IMS Health Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

ISSN: 2047-2994