Changes in the Appropriateness of US Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing After the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis of 2016–2021 Data

A study analyzing the appropriateness of US outpatient antibiotic prescribing after the COVID-19 outbreak found that the proportion of enrollees with ≥1 inappropriate prescription decreased in March 2020 but increased in December 2021. The study used Optum’s Clinformatics Data Mart Database, a national commercial and Medicare Advantage claims database, to assess the impact of the outbreak. The results suggest that despite initial decline, the proportion of enrollees exposed to inappropriate antibiotics returned to baseline levels by December 2021, emphasizing the importance of outpatient antibiotic stewardship initiatives.