Table 2 Characteristics of the study cohort
Variable | Entire cohort N = 274 | Inappropriate N = 133 | Appropriate N = 141 | P value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count | Percentage | Count | Percentage | Count | Percentage | ||
Age | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Median months (25th–75th percentile) | 22 | (5–65) | 24 | (5–79) | 22 | (5–56) | 0.459 |
Gender | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Male | 132 | 50.8% | 64 | 50% | 68 | 51.9% | 0.804 |
 Female | 127 | 49.2% | 64 | 50% | 63 | 48.1% | |
Comorbidities | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Neurologic/neuromuscular | 96 | 35.00% | 47 | 35.30% | 49 | 34.80% | 0.510 |
 Pulmonary disease | 65 | 23.70% | 23 | 17.30% | 42 | 29.80% | 0.011 |
 Gastrointestinal | 50 | 18.20% | 24 | 18.00% | 26 | 18.40% | 0.529 |
 Metabolic diseases | 18 | 6.60% | 9 | 6.80% | 9 | 6.40% | 0.545 |
 Endocrine disease | 11 | 4.00% | 8 | 6.00% | 3 | 2.10% | 0.091 |
 Cardiac disease | 45 | 16.40% | 24 | 18.00% | 21 | 14.90% | 0.294 |
 Renal disease | 27 | 9.90% | 15 | 11.30% | 12 | 8.50% | 0.286 |
 Hematological disease | 9 | 3.30% | 3 | 2.30% | 6 | 4.30% | 0.280 |
 Preterm | 31 | 11.30% | 13 | 9.80% | 18 | 12.80% | 0.278 |
 Genetic/syndromic | 74 | 27.00% | 40 | 30.10% | 34 | 24.10% | 0.165 |
Admission type | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Medical | 187 | 68.2% | 75 | 56.4% | 112 | 79.4% |  < 0.001 |
 Surgical | 83 | 30.3% | 57 | 42.9% | 26 | 18.4% |  < 0.001 |
 Trauma | 3 | 1.1% | 1 | 0.7% | 2 | 1.4% | 0.522 |
 Burn | 1 | 0.4% | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0.8% | 0.485 |
Number of comorbidities | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 No comorbidities | 99 | 36.10% | 50 | 37.60% | 49 | 34.80% | 0.864 |
 1 to 2 | 130 | 47.40% | 61 | 45.90% | 69 | 48.90% | |
 3 or more | 45 | 16.40% | 22 | 16.50% | 23 | 16.30% | |
Type of antibiotic on initiation | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Empiric | 187 | 68.2% | 77 | 57.9% | 110 | 78% |  < 0.001 |
 Prophylactic | 61 | 22.3% | 45 | 33.8% | 16 | 11.3% |  < 0.001 |
 Therapeutic/definitive | 26 | 9.5% | 11 | 8.3% | 15 | 10.6% | 0.323 |
Indication | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Community acquired pneumonia | 53 | 19.3% | 13 | 9.8% | 40 | 28.4% |  < 0.001 |
 Sepsis, hospital acquired | 29 | 10.6% | 13 | 9.8% | 16 | 11.3% | 0.411 |
 Sepsis, community acquired | 27 | 9.9% | 13 | 10.5% | 13 | 9.2% | 0.436 |
 Bronchiolitis | 26 | 9.5% | 14 | 10.5% | 12 | 8.5% | 0.358 |
 CNS procedures e.g., EVD, VP shunt, tumor resection | 23 | 8.4% | 19 | 14.3% | 4 | 2.8% | 0.001 |
 Other | 116 | 42.3% | 60 | 45.1% | 57 | 39.7% | 0.217 |
Documented indication in medical chart | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Yes | 239 | 87.2% | 117 | 88% | 122 | 86.5% | 0.430 |
 No | 35 | 12.8% | 16 | 12% | 19 | 13.5% | |
Appropriate cultures | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Yes | 231 | 84.3% | 109 | 82% | 122 | 86.5% | 0.322 |
 No | 43 | 15.7% | 24 | 18% | 19 | 13.5% | |
Decision at 72 h for empiric (N = 187) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 Changed | 11 | 5.9% | 6 | 7.8% | 5 | 4.5% | 0.364 |
 Continue with planned duration | 64 | 32.2% | 25 | 32.5% | 39 | 35.5% | 0.755 |
 No action taken | 26 | 13.9% | 16 | 20.8% | 10 | 9.1% | 0.031 |
 Discontinued | 86 | 46% | 30 | 39% | 56 | 50.9% | 0.136 |
Documented infection | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Yes | 60 | 21.9% | 29 | 21.8% | 31 | 22% | 1 |
 No | 214 | 78.1% | 104 | 78.2% | 110 | 78% | |
MDRO | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 Yes | 25 | 41.7% | 9 | 30% | 16 | 53.3% | 0.115 |
 No | 35 | 58.3% | 21 | 70% | 14 | 46.7% | |
Duration of antibiotics course Median days (25th–75th percentile) | 8 | 5–13 | 10 | 6–14 | 7 | 4–10 |  < 0.001 |