Impact of penicillin allergy records on carbapenem prescribing: an observational retrospective cohort study.

Penicillin allergy labels have been associated with second-line antibiotic prescribing. This study measured the impact of penicillin allergy labels on meropenem prescribing. Rates of meropenem prescribing were compared between patients with a penicillin allergy record and patients without such a record. Potential confounders were also collected (i.e. age, sex and co-morbidities). Of the 21,272 patients with no penicillin allergy, 225 (1.06%) were prescribed meropenem, whereas of the 3443 patients with penicillin allergy, 240 (6.97%) were prescribed meropenem. Meropenem prescribing is associated with a patient's penicillin allergy record. Given that many penicillin allergy records are incorrect, addressing spurious penicillin allergy labels may reduce meropenem prescribing. Crown