Table 2 The standard for evaluation of the appropriateness of antibiotic use
Optimal | Suboptimal | Inappropriate | |
|---|---|---|---|
Route of administration | A route that is recommended in the Sanford guide | A route that is not recommended in the Sanford guide | |
Dose | Within the range of recommendation of the Sanford guideline | the dose was significantly higher than the recommended amount | the dose was significantly lower than the recommended amount |
Antibiotic class | |||
Treatment of infectious diseases | Antibiotics suggested in the guidelines, antibiotics that are susceptible to identified/possible pathogen | Antibiotic spectrum is too broad considering identified/possible pathogen1 | Not included in optimal or suboptimal |
Prophylaxis of surgical site infection | Adherent to the criteria of ‘The ninth nationwide evaluation of the appropriateness of surgical prophylactic antibiotics in Korean hospitals in 2020’ | Not adherent to the criteria of ‘The ninth nationwide evaluation of the appropriateness of surgical prophylactic antibiotics in Korean hospitals in 2020’ | |
Others | The designated infectious disease specialist judged it as ‘appropriate’ | The designated infectious disease specialist judged it as ‘inappropriate’ | |
Comprehensive evaluation for antibiotics | The route, dose, and class are ‘optimal’ | The route is optimal AND dose and/or class is ‘suboptimal’ but not ‘inappropriate’ | At least one ‘inappropriate’ exist for the route, dose, or class |
Appropriateness of antibiotic prescription by the patient | All the prescribed antibiotics were evaluated as ‘optimal’ and there was no unnecessary combination | - At least one ‘suboptimal’ antibiotic prescription exists, but there was no ‘inappropriate’ antibiotic prescription - All the antibiotic prescriptions were ‘optimal’, but the combination was unnecessary | At least one ‘inappropriate’ antibiotic prescription exists |