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Observational Study
. 2021 Mar 26;21(Suppl 1):229.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-020-03424-7.

Antibiotic use for inpatient newborn care with suspected infection: EN-BIRTH multi-country validation study

Ahmed Ehsanur Rahman #  1 , Aniqa Tasnim Hossain #  2 , Sojib Bin Zaman  2 , Nahya Salim  3   4 , Ashish K C  5 , Louise T Day  6 , Shafiqul Ameen  2 , Harriet Ruysen  6 , Edward Kija  4 , Kimberly Peven  6   7 , Tazeen Tahsina  2 , Anisuddin Ahmed  2 , Qazi Sadeq-Ur Rahman  2 , Jasmin Khan  2 , Stefanie Kong  6 , Harry Campbell  8 , Tedbabe Degefie Hailegebriel  9 , Pavani K Ram  10 , Shamim A Qazi  11 , Shams El Arifeen #  2 , Joy E Lawn #  6 ; EN-BIRTH Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Observational Study

Antibiotic use for inpatient newborn care with suspected infection: EN-BIRTH multi-country validation study

Ahmed Ehsanur Rahman et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: An estimated 30 million neonates require inpatient care annually, many with life-threatening infections. Appropriate antibiotic management is crucial, yet there is no routine measurement of coverage. The Every Newborn Birth Indicators Research Tracking in Hospitals (EN-BIRTH) study aimed to validate maternal and newborn indicators to inform measurement of coverage and quality of care. This paper reports validation of reported antibiotic coverage by exit survey of mothers for hospitalized newborns with clinically-defined infections, including sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia.

Methods: EN-BIRTH study was conducted in five hospitals in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Tanzania (July 2017-July 2018). Neonates were included based on case definitions to focus on term/near-term, clinically-defined infection syndromes (sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia), excluding major congenital abnormalities. Clinical management was abstracted from hospital inpatient case notes (verification) which was considered as the gold standard against which to validate accuracy of women's report. Exit surveys were conducted using questions similar to The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) approach for coverage of childhood pneumonia treatment. We compared survey-report to case note verified, pooled across the five sites using random effects meta-analysis.

Results: A total of 1015 inpatient neonates admitted in the five hospitals met inclusion criteria with clinically-defined infection syndromes. According to case note verification, 96.7% received an injectable antibiotic, although only 14.5% of them received the recommended course of at least 7 days. Among women surveyed (n = 910), 98.8% (95% CI: 97.8-99.5%) correctly reported their baby was admitted to a neonatal ward. Only 47.1% (30.1-64.5%) reported their baby's diagnosis in terms of sepsis, meningitis, or pneumonia. Around three-quarters of women reported their baby received an injection whilst in hospital, but 12.3% reported the correct antibiotic name. Only 10.6% of the babies had a blood culture and less than 1% had a lumbar puncture.

Conclusions: Women's report during exit survey consistently underestimated the denominator (reporting the baby had an infection), and even more so the numerator (reporting known injectable antibiotics). Admission to the neonatal ward was accurately reported and may have potential as a contact point indicator for use in household surveys, similar to institutional births. Strengthening capacity and use of laboratory diagnostics including blood culture are essential to promote appropriate use of antibiotics. To track quality of neonatal infection management, we recommend using inpatient records to measure specifics, requiring more research on standardised inpatient records.

Keywords: Antibiotics; Antimicrobial resistance; Coverage; Hospital records; Neonatal infections; Newborn; Quality of care; Sepsis; Survey; Validity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Case definitions and diagnosis for neonatal infections. a Approaches to diagnosis of neonatal infection, from simplest clinical algorithm, to infection syndromes through to gold standard with laboratory confirmation (Figure adapted from Seale et al, Lancet Infect Dis, 2014) [9]. b Case ascertainment for neonatal invasive bacterial disease showing the cascade affecting gold standard detection (Figure adapted from Lawn et al, Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2017) [23]
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
EN-BIRTH study antibiotic coverage validation design comparing case note verification with exit interview survey [34]
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
EN-BIRTH study flow diagram for newborns treated with severe infections (n = 1015)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Coverage of antibiotics − newborn care inpatient wards, EN-BIRTH study. *Random effects
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Gaps in coverage, quality and measurements in antibiotic use, EN-BIRTH study. (n = 1015 for case note verification and n = 910 exit interview survey). *All sites pooled using random effects model
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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