RT Journal Article
T1 Patients receiving a high burden of antibiotics in the community in Spain: a cross-sectional study.
A1 Fernández-Urrusuno, Rocío
A1 Meseguer Barros, Carmen Marina
A1 Anaya-Ordóñez, Sonia
A1 Borrego Izquierdo, Yolanda
A1 Lallana-Álvarez, María Jesús
A1 Madridejos, Rosa
A1 Tejón, Esther Marco
A1 Sánchez, Raquel Prieto
A1 Pérez Rodríguez, Olatz
A1 García Gil, María
A1 Escudero Vilaplana, Belén
A1 Riádigos, Genma M Silva
A1 López-Fando, M Sagrario Pardo
A1 Olmo Quintana, Vicente
A1 Pina Gadea, M Belén
A1 García Alvarez, Angel
A1 Martorell, M Llüisa Sastre
A1 Jiménez Arce, Jorge I
A1 Aguilella Vizcaíno, Rafael
A1 Pérez Martín, Joaquín
A1 Alzueta Isturiz, Natalia
A1 Infectious Diseases SEFAP team, 
K1 ambulatory Care
K1 antibiotic prescribing
K1 antimicrobial stewardship programs
K1 infection
K1 outpatients
AB Some patients in the community receive a high burden of antibiotics. We aimed at describing the characteristics of these patients, antibiotics used, and conditions for which they received antibiotics. We carried out a cross-sectional study. Setting: Thirty Health Primary Care Areas from 12 regions in Spain, covering 5,960,191 inhabitants. Patients having at least 30 packages of antibacterials for systemic use dispensed in 2017 were considered. Main outcome measures: Prevalence of antibiotic use, conditions for which antibiotics were prescribed, clinical characteristics of patients, comorbidities, concomitant treatments, and microbiological isolates. Patient's average age was 70 years; 52% were men; 60% smokers/ex-smokers; 54% obese. Overall, 93% of patients had, at least, one chronic condition, and four comorbidities on average. Most common comorbidities were cardiovascular and/or hypertension (67%), respiratory diseases (62%), neurological/mental conditions (32%), diabetes (23%), and urological diseases (21%); 29% were immunosuppressed, 10% were dead at the time of data collection. Patients received three antibiotic treatments per year, mainly fluoroquinolones (28%), macrolides (21%), penicillins (19%), or cephalosporins (12%). Most frequently treated conditions were lower respiratory tract (infections or prophylaxis) (48%), urinary (27%), and skin/soft tissue infections (11%). Thirty-five percent have been guided by a microbiological diagnosis, being Pseudomonas aeruginosa (30%) and Escherichia coli (16%) the most frequent isolates. In conclusion, high antibiotic consumers in the community were basically elder, with multimorbidity and polymedication. They frequently received broad-spectrum antibiotics for long periods of time. The approach to infections in high consumers should be differentiated from healthy patients receiving antibiotics occasionally.
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10668/16822
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10668/16822
LA en
DS RISalud
RD Aug 23, 2025