By Healthcare Facilities Today

Aggressive antimicrobial use in long-term care facilities can promote antimicrobial resistant organisms and lead to adverse effects such as C. difficile colitis, according to an article on the Infection Control Today website. 

Guidelines recommend development of antimicrobial stewardship programs for these facilities to promote optimal antimicrobial use. However, the effectiveness of these programs or the contribution of any specific program component is not known, the article said. 

In a review, Nicolle (2014) identified publications describing evaluation of antimicrobial stewardship programs for long-term care facilities through a systematic literature search. 

Interventions included education, guidelines development, feedback to practitioners, and infectious disease consultation. The studies reviewed varied in types of facilities, interventions used, implementation, and evaluation. Comprehensive programs addressing all infections were reported to have improved antimicrobial use for at least some outcomes, the article said.

Nicolle (2014) said further evaluation would be needed to characterize effective antimicrobial stewardship for long-term care facilities. The research was published in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.  

Read the article.