Yusuke Okubo1, Kenta Horimukai2, Nobuaki Michihata3, Kojiro Morita4, Hiroki Matsui4, Kiyohide Fushimi5, Hideo Yasunaga4. 1. Department of Epidemiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, Calif; Department of Social Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Health Economics, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: sunning_dale@yahoo.co.jp. 2. Department of Pediatrics, Jikei University Katsushika Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan. 3. Department of Health Services Research, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. 4. Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Health Economics, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. 5. Department of Health Policy and Informatics, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Professional society guidelines recommend against routine early antibiotic use in the treatment of asthma exacerbation without comorbid bacterial infection. However, high antibiotic prescribing rates have been reported in developed countries. OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess the effectiveness of this strategy in the routine care of children. METHODS: Using data on 48,743 children hospitalized for asthma exacerbation with no indication of bacterial infection during the period 2010 to 2018, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to compare clinical outcomes and resource utilization between children who received early antibiotic treatment and those who did not. RESULTS: Overall, 19,866 children (41%) received early antibiotic treatment. According to the propensity score matching analysis, children with early antibiotic treatment had longer hospital stay (mean difference, 0.21 days; 95% CI, 0.18-0.28), higher hospitalization costs (mean difference, $83.5; 95% CI, 62.9-104.0), and higher risk of probiotic use (risk ratio, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.81-2.23) than children who did not receive early antibiotic therapy. Similar results were found from inverse probability of treatment weighting, g-computation, and instrumental variable methods and sensitivity analyses. The risks of mechanical ventilation and 30-day readmission were similar between the groups or slightly higher in the treated group, depending on the statistical models. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic therapy may be associated with prolonged hospital stay, elevated hospitalization costs, and high risk of probiotic use without improving treatment failure and readmission. Our findings highlight the need for reducing inappropriate antibiotic use among children hospitalized for asthma.
BACKGROUND: Professional society guidelines recommend against routine early antibiotic use in the treatment of asthma exacerbation without comorbid bacterial infection. However, high antibiotic prescribing rates have been reported in developed countries. OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess the effectiveness of this strategy in the routine care of children. METHODS: Using data on 48,743 children hospitalized for asthma exacerbation with no indication of bacterial infection during the period 2010 to 2018, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to compare clinical outcomes and resource utilization between children who received early antibiotic treatment and those who did not. RESULTS: Overall, 19,866 children (41%) received early antibiotic treatment. According to the propensity score matching analysis, children with early antibiotic treatment had longer hospital stay (mean difference, 0.21 days; 95% CI, 0.18-0.28), higher hospitalization costs (mean difference, $83.5; 95% CI, 62.9-104.0), and higher risk of probiotic use (risk ratio, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.81-2.23) than children who did not receive early antibiotic therapy. Similar results were found from inverse probability of treatment weighting, g-computation, and instrumental variable methods and sensitivity analyses. The risks of mechanical ventilation and 30-day readmission were similar between the groups or slightly higher in the treated group, depending on the statistical models. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotic therapy may be associated with prolonged hospital stay, elevated hospitalization costs, and high risk of probiotic use without improving treatment failure and readmission. Our findings highlight the need for reducing inappropriate antibiotic use among children hospitalized for asthma.