A diagnose-prescription survey in primary care successfully tested in AMR programme
The Nordic-Russian Cooperation Programme on antimicrobial resistance, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers, has carried out a diagnose-prescription study in Russia. It was piloted in three regions: St. Petersburg, Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Region.
The pilot purposed at testing the previously in Sweden, Latvia and Lithuania used survey protocol, in the context of the Russian ambulatory care system and in the view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
In the pilot the local coordinators recruited doctors from primary health care organizations or general practices. The doctors were asked to fill in the protocols on all patients with diagnosed or suspected infections during a one-week survey period.
When the survey was completed, the doctors returned the protocols with data to the local coordinators who sent them to THL. All together 28 doctors participated and collected data on infection patients from 22 to 26 March 2021.
The pilot successfully achieved its primary goal – to test the protocol and procedures for a wider-scale survey. It has become clear now what modifications should be done to effectively conduct a diagnose-prescription survey in Russia, starting from instructing local coordinators to data processing.
Analysis of prescription data was not of primary importance in the pilot, but certain findings of the pilot will be demonstrated and discussed with the partners.
Why was the survey made?
It is known that an overwhelming majority of antibiotics is used in the community sector. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported that in 2019, in the EU/EAA, the antibiotic consumption in the public sector was almost 10 times higher than in the hospital sector.
What often remains unknown is the reason for prescribing antibiotics. Availability of such data could help assess the necessity of these prescriptions and, thus, demonstrate where the potential lies for more rational use of them in the primary health care.
For more information:
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/surveillance-antimicrobial-consumption-europe-2019
