Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing Patterns for Adult End-Stage Renal Disease Patients in New York State.

IMPORTANCE Infections are important complications of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) with few studies having investigated oral antibiotic use. Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing can contribute to multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO) and Clostridioides difficile (CDI) infections seen in ESRD. This study investigates antibiotic prescribing practices in ESRD across New York State (NYS). METHODS Retrospective case-control study from 2016 to 2017 of NYS ESRD and non-ESRD patients analyzing Medicare part B billing codes, 7 days before and 3 days after part D claims. Frequencies of each infection, each antibiotic, dosages, and the antibiotics associated with infections were assessed using chi-square analysis. A NYS small dialysis organization comprising approximately 2200 patients was also analyzed. Outcomes measured were the frequencies of infections and of each antibiotic prescribed. Incidence measures included antibiotics/1000 and individuals receiving antibiotics/1000. RESULTS 48,100 infections were treated in 35,369 ESRD patients and 2,544,443 infections treated in 3,777,314 non-ESRD patients. ESRD patients were younger, male, and African American. ESRD and non-ESRD patients receiving antibiotics was 520.29/1000 and 296.48/1000, respectively (p<0.05). The prescription incidence was 1359.95/1000 ESRD vs 673.61/1000 non-ESRD patients. In 36%, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole dosage was elevated by current ESRD guidelines. Top infectious categories included non-specific symptoms, skin, and respiratory for ESRD; and respiratory, nonspecific symptoms, and genitourinary in non-ESRD. CONCLUSIONS This study Identifies issues with appropriate antibiotic usage stressing the importance of antibiotic education to nephrologist and non-nephrologist providers. It provides support for outpatient antibiotic stewardship programs.