19. A Global Point Prevalence Survey of Antimicrobial Use in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

Background Antimicrobials are one of the most commonly used medications in the NICU. We aimed to gather baseline global data on antimicrobial use to facilitate subsequent antimicrobial stewardship efforts. Methods We conducted a one-day global NICU point prevalence study on July 1, 2019 with a 30-day follow up. Data collection included patient demographics, antimicrobial therapy, site location, antimicrobial stewardship (AS) practices as well as the duration of antimicrobial therapy and in-hospital mortality were recorded. Results Eighty-one NICUs from twenty-eight different countries identified 2,163 admitted patients of which 570 (26%) were prescribed at least one antimicrobial. Three NICUs did not have any patients on antimicrobial therapy, all had less than 20 patients admitted. Level 3 and Level 4 NICUs comprised 51% and 48% respectively. Delivery units comprised 74%, the rest were referral centers. AS programs were in place in 62% of the hospitals and 47% of the units had NICU specific initiatives. Patients were on average 32.5 weeks gestational age (+/-5.3 SD), with birth weight of 1976 grams (+/- 1022 SD), and were 32 days (+/-65 SD) postnatal age at the time of the study. Antibiotics were the most frequently used medication in 92% of patients with 931 antibiotics prescribed on the assessment day. Hospitals with any NICU AS initiative had significantly lower rates of antibiotic utilization compared to NICUs without AS (21% and 32%; p-value: < 0.01). Of those on antibiotic therapy, ampicillin, gentamicin and amikacin were prescribed to 41%, 34%, and 21% of patients respectively. When only definitive treatment was evaluated, vancomycin, amikacin, and meropenem were the highest prescribed antibacterial agents at 25%, 19%, and 19% respectively. At the initial assessment, study participants indicated either 3 or 7 days (37% and 26%) for planned duration. Actual treatment duration for empiric and definitive treatment, was 7 and 14 days (29% and 19%) When comparing patients who had an established treatment course at the time of the initial assessment, the final length of treatment for culture negative sepsis was 7 (IQR:5–10) and culture positive sepsis was 11 days (IQR:10–14; p-value: 0.07). Conclusion Benchmarking global antimicrobial use is crucial for improving NICU-AS practices. Disclosures Pavel Prusakov, PharmD, Merck (Research Grant or Support) Debra A. Goff, PharmD, Merck (Research Grant or Support)