Praktické lekárnictvo 4/2021

Antibiotic therapy in the hospital care sector in the Slovak Republic

The aims of this study were to compare data on the consumption of antibiotics in the hospital care sector for Slovakia from 2019 to 2020. The data source on the consumption of antibiotics (ATC group J01), is sales data from the NCZI. The main indicator describing the consumption of antibacterials for systemic use are the number of DDDs per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID). Data released by the European Centre for Disease Protection, was used as the source for antibiotic consumption for 2019. We found that the consumption of antibacterials for systemic use (ATC J01) in the hospital care sector fell by 7.97% between 2019 and 2020. In Slovakia, a 3.33% drop can be seen in the consumption of beta-lactam and penicillin antibacterials (J01C) from 2019 to 2020. It is important to mention the 4.88% decrease in the consumption of other antibacterial beta-lactam antibiotics (J01D) and 14.93% decrease in the consumption of aminoglycosides (J01G) from 2019 to 2020. The consumption of macrolides, lincosamides, streptogramins increased (J01F) 12.50% and quinolone antibacterials (J01M) declined 10.00% between 2019 and 2020. In Slovakia, the 36.22% decrease in other antibacterial (J01X) usage from 2019 to 2020 can be seen. Overall, antibiotic consumption in the hospital care sector did significantly change in Slovakia from 2019 to 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: antibiotic consumption, defined daily dose, hospital care, Slovakia