Causes of non-adherence to therapeutic guidelines in severe community-acquired pneumonia - Critical Care Science (CCS)

Objective:

To assess the adherence to Infectious Disease Society of America/American Thoracic Society guidelines and the causes of lack of adherence during empirical antibiotic prescription in severe pneumonia in Latin America.

Methods:

A clinical questionnaire was submitted to 36 physicians from Latin America; they were asked to indicate the empirical treatment in two fictitious cases of severe respiratory infection: community-acquired pneumonia and nosocomial pneumonia.

Results:

In the case of communityacquired pneumonia, 11 prescriptions of 36 (30.6%) were compliant with international guidelines. The causes for non-compliant treatment were monotherapy (16.0%), the unnecessary prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics (40.0%) and the use of non-recommended antibiotics (44.0%).

Conclusion:

The compliance rate with the Infectious Disease Society of America/American Thoracic Society guidelines in the community-acquired pneumonia scenario was 30.6%; the most frequent cause of lack of compliance was the indication of monotherapy. In the case of nosocomial pneumonia, the compliance rate with the guidelines was 2.8%, and the most important cause of non-adherence was lack of combined antipseudomonal therapy. If the use of monotherapy with an antipseudomonal antibiotic was considered the correct option, the treatment would be adequate in 100% of the prescriptions.