Author(s)

Fabiana Xavier Cartaxo Salgado, Tarquino Erastides Gavilanes Sanchez, Noriberto Barbosa da Silva, Hildeamo Bonifácio Oliveira, Mauro Karnikowski, Margô Gomes de Oliveira Karnikowski

Brazilian Federal District Department of Health, Brasilia, Brazil.
Graduate Program in Health Sciences and Technologies, Universidade de Brasília, Brasilia, Brazil.
Graduate Program in Health Sciences and Technologies, Universidade de Brasília, Brasilia, Brazil; Brazilian Federal District Department of Health, Brasilia, Brazil.
Universidade Católica de Brasília, Brasilia, Brazil.
Universidade do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.

The present study sought to assess the rational use of antimicrobial agents in a Brazilian intensive care unit (ICU) and its association with antimicrobial resistance in elderly patients admitted to the unit. Results: Choice of empiric and sensitivity-guided therapy was inadequate in > 80% and 59% of cases respectively. Inadequate antimicrobial therapy, whether empiric or sensitivity-guided, was positively correlated with bacterial resistance (r = 0.316; p = 0.001). Sensitivity testing revealed a 46.5% resistance rate to eight out of the ten most commonly used antibiotics. Multiple drug-resistant organisms were found in 40.8% of patients. A significant increase was observed in the number of multidrug-resistant samples between 2006/2007 and 2008 (r = 0.41, p = 0.006), (r = 0.598, p = 0.001), (r = 0.688, p = 0.00). Conclusion: We found a high rate of antibiotic misuse in the study sample. Inadequate therapy was correlated with resistance to antimicrobial agents.

Rational use of Antimicrobial Agents; Intensive Care Unit; Microbial Resistance

Cartaxo Salgado, F. , Gavilanes Sanchez, T. , da Silva, N. , Oliveira, H. , Karnikowski, M. and de Oliveira Karnikowski, M. (2014) Evaluation of rational use of antimicrobial agents in a Brazilian intensive care unit. Health, 6, 188-194. doi: 10.4236/health.2014.62028.