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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
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1 to 6 of 6 Research Studies DisplayedDonnelly JP, Seelye SM, Kipnis P
Impact of reducing time-to-antibiotics on sepsis mortality, antibiotic use, and adverse events.
Researchers estimated benefits and harms of shortened time-to-antibiotics for sepsis. Their simulation study used a cohort of over 1.5 million hospitalizations via emergency department with more than two systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria. The results showed that impacts of faster time-to-antibiotics for sepsis varied markedly across simulated hospital types; however, even in worst-case scenarios, new antibiotic-associated adverse events were rare.
AHRQ-funded; HS026725.
Citation: Donnelly JP, Seelye SM, Kipnis P .
Impact of reducing time-to-antibiotics on sepsis mortality, antibiotic use, and adverse events.
Ann Am Thorac Soc 2024 Jan; 21(1):94-101. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202306-505OC..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Medication, Sepsis, Mortality
Pak TR, Young J, McKenna CS
Risk of misleading conclusions in observational studies of time-to-antibiotics and mortality in suspected sepsis.
Important studies indicate that every hour of sepsis that elapses until antibiotics are administered increases mortality. The researchers of this study found determined that analyses in the influential studies often adjusted for limited covariates, included patients with long delays until antibiotic administration, combined sepsis and septic shock, and used linear models presuming each hour of delay has equal impact on the sepsis and the patient. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the analytic decisions on the relationships between time-to-antibiotics and mortality. The researchers retrospectively identified 104,248 adults admitted from 2015-2022 to five hospitals with suspected infection. The patients included 25,990 with suspected septic shock and 23,619 with sepsis without shock. The study found that changing covariates, maximum time-to-antibiotics, and severity stratification altered the magnitude, direction, and significance of observed relationships between time-to-antibiotics and mortality. In a fully adjusted model of patients treated within 6 hours, every hour related with higher mortality for septic shock, but not sepsis without shock or suspected infection alone. Modeling every hour independently confirmed that every hour delay was related with greater mortality for septic shock, but only delays of greater than 6 hours were related with greater mortality for sepsis without shock.
AHRQ-funded; HS027170.
Citation: Pak TR, Young J, McKenna CS .
Risk of misleading conclusions in observational studies of time-to-antibiotics and mortality in suspected sepsis.
Clin Infect Dis 2023 Nov 30; 77(11):1534-43. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad450..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Medication, Sepsis, Mortality, Quality of Care
Kadri SS, Lai YL, Warner S
Inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy for bloodstream infections based on discordant in-vitro susceptibilities: a retrospective cohort analysis of prevalence, predictors, and mortality risk in US hospitals.
Researchers sought to establish the population-level burden, predictors, and mortality risk of in-vitro susceptibility-discordant empirical antibiotic therapy among patients with bloodstream infections. They found that approximately one in five patients with bloodstream infections in US hospitals received discordant empirical antibiotic therapy, receipt of which was closely associated with infection with antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Receiving discordant empirical antibiotic therapy was associated with increased odds of mortality overall, even in patients without sepsis. They concluded that early identification of bloodstream pathogens and resistance will probably improve population-level outcomes.
AHRQ-funded.
Citation: Kadri SS, Lai YL, Warner S .
Inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy for bloodstream infections based on discordant in-vitro susceptibilities: a retrospective cohort analysis of prevalence, predictors, and mortality risk in US hospitals.
Lancet Infect Dis 2021 Feb;21(2):241-51. doi: 10.1016/s1473-3099(20)30477-1..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Medication, Sepsis, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Mortality, Risk
Weinberger J, Rhee C, Klompas M
A critical analysis of the literature on time-to-antibiotics in suspected sepsis.
The Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommends immediate antibiotics for all patients with suspected sepsis and septic shock, ideally within 1 hour of recognition. An accurate understanding of the precise relationship between time-to-antibiotics and mortality for patients with possible sepsis is therefore critical. In this study, the investigators elaborate on potential sources of bias and try to distill a better understanding of what the true relationship between time-to-antibiotics and mortality may be for patients with suspected sepsis or septic shock.
AHRQ-funded; HS025008.
Citation: Weinberger J, Rhee C, Klompas M .
A critical analysis of the literature on time-to-antibiotics in suspected sepsis.
J Infect Dis 2020 Jul 21;222(Suppl 2):S110-s18. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa146..
Keywords: Sepsis, Antibiotics, Medication, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Mortality
Goldstein E, MacFadden DR, Karaca Z
AHRQ Author: Karaca Z Steiner CA
Antimicrobial resistance prevalence, rates of hospitalization with septicemia and rates of mortality with sepsis in adults in different US states.
Researchers studied the relation between the prevalence of resistance to various antibiotics in different bacteria and rates of sepsis-related outcomes. They found that, among the different combinations of antibiotics/bacteria, prevalence of resistance to fluoroquinolones in E. coli had the strongest association with septicemia hospitalization rates for individuals aged over 50 years, and with sepsis mortality rates for individuals aged 18-84 years. They also found a number of positive correlations between prevalence of resistance for different combinations of antibiotics/bacteria and septicemia hospitalization/sepsis mortality rates in adults.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Goldstein E, MacFadden DR, Karaca Z .
Antimicrobial resistance prevalence, rates of hospitalization with septicemia and rates of mortality with sepsis in adults in different US states.
Int J Antimicrob Agents 2019 Jul;54(1):23-34. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2019.03.004..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Hospitals, Hospitalization, Medication, Mortality, Sepsis
Pepper DJ, Sun J, Rhee C
Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic discontinuation and mortality in critically ill adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis on survival outcomes of using procalcitonin (PCT)-guided antibiotic discontinuation on critically ill adults. The study quality was assessing with the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and GRADEpro was used to grade evidence. PCT-guided discontinuation was associated with decreased mortality, but there was a high risk of bias in many of the studies reviewed with a low certainty of evidence. The authors suggest properly designed studies with mortality as the primary outcome is needed to further answer this question.
AHRQ-funded; HS025008.
Citation: Pepper DJ, Sun J, Rhee C .
Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic discontinuation and mortality in critically ill adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Chest 2019 Jun;155(6):1109-18. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2018.12.029..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Critical Care, Evidence-Based Practice, Medication, Mortality, Outcomes, Sepsis