REDUCING THE NUMBER OF DAYS OF THERAPY IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS WITH COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL STEWARDSHIP INTERVENTIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32689/2663-0672-2025-3-24Keywords:
community-acquired pneumonia, antimicrobial stewardship, pharmacists, humans, childAbstract
Community-acquired pneumonia remains one of the leading causes of mortality among children worldwide, resulting in extensive antibiotic use and increasing the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Excessive antibiotic consumption highlights the need for effective antimicrobial stewardship programs aimed at optimizing therapy without compromising clinical outcomes. Objective. To evaluate the impact of implementing antimicrobial stewardship interventions on reducing the duration of antibiotic use in children with community-acquired pneumonia. Materials and methods. This comparative study was conducted in the pediatric department of Kyiv Municipal Children’s Clinical Hospital No. 2. A total of 138 medical records of hospitalized children diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia were analyzed: 48 cases from 2023 (before intervention) and 90 cases from 2025 (after intervention). The intervention package included: development and implementation of a standard operating procedure for rational antibiotic prescribing in pediatric community- acquired pneumonia, prospective audit with feedback to prescribers, and educational activities for healthcare professionals on antimicrobial stewardship principles. Statistical analysis was performed using MedStat v.5.2 software. The Student’s t-test for independent samples was used to assess the significance of differences. Results. After implementation, the mean duration of antibiotic therapy significantly decreased from 9.25 ± 1.11 to 6.51 ± 0.39 days (p < 0.001). A consistent reduction was observed across all age groups, particularly among children under 3 years old (from 8.13 ± 1.37 to 5.08 ± 1.06 days, p < 0.001). The proportion of short courses (≤ 7 days) increased from 16.7% to 37.8%, while long courses (≥ 10 days) decreased from 35.4% to 4.4%. Conclusions. Implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program involving a clinical pharmacist resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the duration of antibiotic therapy without compromising treatment safety. The findings support the feasibility and effectiveness of a multidisciplinary approach to optimizing antibiotic use in pediatric patients, particularly in resource-limited settings.
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