Antimicrobial stewardship intervention before and during COVID-19
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An investigation into factors affecting the implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in two acute care settings
IRAS ID
314805
Contact name
Zoe Aslanpour
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Hertfordshire
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
UK health officials warned that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was a "hidden pandemic" that could emerge in the wake of COVID-19 unless antibiotics were prescribed responsibly. More than 1.2 million people died worldwide from infections caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics. This study is about a topic known as “Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS)”. AMS was established to effectively use antibiotics, prevent antimicrobial resistance, improve patient safety, and reduce healthcare costs. We don’t know AMS measures that improved the prescribing of antibiotics during the pandemic, nor what actually happened.
This research project aims to explore AMS implementation in Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Luton & Dunstable and Bedford hospitals). It will investigate how AMS was implemented before and during COVID-19, using prescribing data from a retrospective review of patients’ case notes and gathering information on healthcare professionals' behaviour, attitudes and perception of antibiotic prescribing and AMS implementation before and during COVID. Finally, this research will identify the factors that feed into how decisions to prescribe antibiotics were made both before and during the pandemic to maintain the proper use of antibiotics and provide guidance to prescribe antibiotics appropriately.
• Phase 1: Retrospective patient case-note review
It will investigate the practice of AMS implementation in Bedfordshire hospitals. The PhD student/PI will review medical records of patients prescribed antibiotics for RTIs or pneumonia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.• Phase 2: Online survey study
It will explore healthcare professionals’ knowledge, perception, and attitude toward antimicrobial prescribing and AMS implementation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.The expected outcomes of this research project are to identify AMS implementation and measures that were used before and during the COVID-19 pandemic based on PHE toolkit of AMS (Start Smart – then Focus), which will provide the gold standards for this research project. Additionally, this research project will help to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of healthcare professionals towards antibiotic prescribing and AMS implementation before and during the pandemic.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/EM/0161
Date of REC Opinion
9 Sep 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion