Efectividad de un programa de control de antimicrobianos en una unidad de cuidados críticos en Cuba

objective: to assess the impact of antimicrobial control on the critical patients. methods: an intervention study was conducted in the critical care units of the "joaquín albarrán" clinical surgical university hospital. thirty five patients was assessed during the pre-intervention period (1-5-2008/31-7-2008) and 241 patients during the intervention period (1-8-2010/20-5-2010). a multidimensional program of quality control of use of antimicrobials including an organizing educational measurements. the quality of prescription was assessed by experts in the patients admitted a day at month during study period. the ratio of patients with an inappropriate antimicrobial prescription, the ratio of patients using selected antibiotics was determined as well as the error frequency of the prescription according the type. authors made comparisons of indicators during the pre-intervention and intervention periods. results: there were not differences in the demographic features of patients, the leading diagnosis at admission and the pathological backgrounds during study periods. the cephalosporins are the more used antimicrobial agent, although there is a decrease in the frequency of its use. the indication of ciprofloxacin increased from the 5.7 % to 30.4 % (p< 0.05). the unsuitability frequency from 42.9 % to 10.9 % (p< 0.001) in relation to dose and inappropriate choice of antimicrobial. conclusion: it has been shown that a program of antimicrobial control is associated with an improvement in the prescription practices in critical patients.