ANTIBIOTIC USE IN 3 EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS

The use of antibiotic drugs was studied in university teaching hospita ls in Tartu, Estonia, Huddinge, Sweden and Badajoz, Spain. Data on dru g deliveries to hospital wards during 1992 are presented in defined da ily doses (DDD) per 100 bed-days (DDD/100 bed-days). In addition, the time trends of antibiotic use in Tartu University Hospital from 1992 t o 1995 are shown. The total amount of antibiotic drugs used for system ic treatment in 1992 mas similar in the 3 hospitals, 41 DDD/100 bed-da ys in Tartu vs. 51 DDD/100 bed-days in Badajoz and 47 DDD/100 bed-days in Huddinge. The antibiotics used most frequently were tetracyclines and aminoglycosides in Tartu, broad-spectrum penicillins and cephalosp orins in Badajoz and narrow-spectrum penicillins and cephalosporins in Huddinge. Injectable preparations accounted fbr one-half of the antib iotics used. Among the medical departments? the total use of antibioti cs varied up to 3-fold (from 19 to 61 DDD/100 bed-dags), less than amo ng the surgical departments (18-94 DDD/100 bed-days). The frequency of antibiotic use was very similar in departments of similar profile in the 3 hospitals (i.e. in departments of neurology, urology, etc.). The use of antibiotic drugs in intensive care units was twice as high in Huddinge (243 DDD/100 bed-days) as in Badajoz (106 DDD/100 bed-days) a nd Tartu (135 DDD/100 bed-days) in 1992, In conclusion, the internatio nal differences in the use of antibiotics in hospital were not in the frequency of use, but in the predominant prescription preferences in t he hospital.