Cálculo de los Días de Terapia Antimicrobiana (DOT) en Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos: una propuesta de metodología basada en el sistema informático de dispensación de medicamentos

Abstract

Background: The recommended indicator for measuring antimicro-bial (AMB) consumption in pediatric patients is the Days of Therapy indicator (DOT), which is then standardized by hospital occupancy rates (DOT-std). However, in hospitals that do not have electronic health records, obtaining the DOT requires a direct review of each pharmacological indication, which is not feasible in the long term. Aims: To validate electronic records from the pharmacy dispensation system as a source for calculating DOT and estimating DOT-std in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Methods: AMB prescriptions at the PICU of a university hospital were directly reviewed (manual method) and compared with AMB dispensation records (computer method) obtained from the hospital pharmacy system. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was used to evaluate the agreement between the DOT obtained by both methods. Results: The most used AMB were vancomycin, meropenem, and piperacillin/tazobactam. A significant agreement between the DOT obtained by using manual and computer methods was found in 9 of 12 evaluated AMB. Conclusions: After a local validation process, the electronic records of the pharmacy drug dispensation system could be considered a valid source for calculating DOT in PICUs in hospitals where electronic health records with prescription data are not yet available.