NEARLY 65% of aged care facility residents recently prescribed antibiotics had no documented signs or symptoms of a suspected infection in the week before they started treatment, according to the latest Aged Care National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey, published in Australian Prescriber.
The report said that on any given day, almost 10% of residents in aged-care homes in Australia are using an antibiotic, but only around 3% have any signs or symptoms of infection.
Further, over a quarter had been using antibiotics for longer than six months.
The release of the report comes just ahead of World Antibiotic Awareness Week 18--24 Nov.
National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship Associate Professor Noleen Bennett said antibiotics are valuable in aged-care homes to treat infections and reduce the elevated risk of complications.
"However, many people are using antibiotics for much longer than is needed to treat an infection, or even using them to prevent infections.
"This puts them at risk of developing infections that become resistant to antibiotics.
"As resistant bacteria can spread from person to person, this puts other residents at risk."
The survey, funded by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, showed that in aged-care facilities, it is often not recorded why an antibiotic is being used, when it was started, when it should be reviewed and when it should be stopped, Bennett said.
"This information should be kept up-to-date and available to all relevant medical staff and carers," Bennett said.
She added that aged care facility staff, residents and their families need education about antibiotic use to effect change.
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