CP-205 Evaluation of outcomes of the implementation of an early oral switch antimicrobial strategy: a before–after study

BackgroundFrom October 2015, an Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme (ASP) was implemented in an internal medicine department by a multidisciplinary team. One of the interventions developed within this ASP was to promote the early switch of intravenous antimicrobial therapy to oral therapy through the introduction of Early Oral Switch Therapy (EOST) recommendations.PurposeWe aimed to assess the impact on consumption, cost and duration of intravenous antimicrobials of the introduction of EOST recommendations by clinical pharmacists as a part of an ASP.Material and methodsThe study was prospective with a before–after design, divided into a pre-intervention phase (January–May 2015) and a post-intervention phase (January–May 2016). The intervention consisted of writing the advice of the EOST by the clinical pharmacist on the patient’s clinical chart. Target patients were those admitted to hospital internal medicine floors. They had all received more than 72 hours of selected intravenous antimicrobial treatment (co-amoxiclav, ceftriaxone, levofloxacin) and had clinical and analytical stability.Variables compared between the study phases were: consumption of selected and general antimicrobials calculated by defined daily dose per 100 stays (DDD/100 stays); cost of selected and general antimicrobial treatment, calculated by total spending per 100 stays; duration of selected and general antimicrobial treatments, calculated by total days of antimicrobial treatment per patient. All statistical analysis were performed using SPSS v.19.0, with a significance level of p