Antibiotic consumption patterns in Iranian teaching hospitals.

BACKGROUND

There is a lack of national data on antibiotic consumption by teaching hospitals in Islamic Republic of Iran based on the WHO access, watch and reserve categorisation.

AIM: To quantify antibiotic consumption by teaching hospitals in Islamic Republic of Iran.

METHODS

We analysed antibiotic consumption data for March 2023 to March 2024 across all 248 teaching hospitals in the 10 regions of Islamic Republic of Iran, using the WHO-defined daily dose methodology and the access, watch and reserve categorisation.

RESULTS

Median antibiotic consumption was 299 defined daily dose per 100 admissions per day. Hospitals in Region 10 had the highest overall consumption (24.3% of total consumption), while Region 7 showed the highest use of reserve group antibiotics. Across all hospitals and regions, watch antibiotics were the most used (61%), followed by access (37%) and reserve (2%). Ceftriaxone 1 g and cefazolin 1 g were the most frequently used (11% of total consumption each), followed by meropenem 1 g injection (8.8%) and vancomycin 0.5 g (7%).

CONCLUSION

Our findings show high reliance on watch antibiotics, extensive cephalosporin use and prevalent parenteral formulations. There is a need to assess the appropriateness of antibiotic use in Iranian teaching hospitals in order to strengthen antibiotic stewardship.