Antibiotic Overuse after Hospital Discharge: A Multi-Hospital Cohort Study

Antibiotics are commonly prescribed to patients as they leave the hospital. We aimed to create a comprehensive metric to characterize antibiotic overuse after discharge among hospitalized patients treated for pneumonia or urinary tract infection (UTI) and determine whether overuse varied across hospitals and conditions.

Antibiotic overuse after discharge was common and varied widely between hospitals. Antibiotic overuse after discharge was associated between conditions, suggesting that prescribing culture, physician behavior, or organizational processes contribute to overprescribing at discharge. Multifaceted efforts focusing on all three types of overuse and multiple conditions should be considered to improve antibiotic prescribing at discharge.