Implementation of a cellulitis management plan in three australian regional health services to address an evidence–practice gap in antibiotic prescribing Bishop, J, Jones, M, Farquharson, J, Summerhayes, K, Tucker, R, Smith, M, Cowan, R, Friedman, Deb, Schulz, T, Kong, D and Buising, K 2021, Implementation of a cellulitis management plan in three australian regional health services to address an evidence–practice gap in antibiotic prescribing, Antibiotics, vol. 10, no. 11, pp. 1-12, doi: 10.3390/antibiotics10111288. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Implementation of a cellulitis management plan in three australian regional health services to address an evidence–practice gap in antibiotic prescribing Author(s) Bishop, J Jones, M Farquharson, J Summerhayes, K Tucker, R Smith, M Cowan, R Friedman, Deb orcid.org/0000-0003-2049-3087 Schulz, T Kong, D Buising, K Journal name Antibiotics Volume number 10 Issue number 11 Article ID 1288 Start page 1 End page 12 Total pages 12 Publisher MDPI AG Place of publication Basel, Switzerland Publication date 2021 ISSN 2079-6382 2079-6382 Keyword(s) antibiotic appropriateness cellulitis rural stewardship Summary Despite the availability of evidence-based guidelines, antibiotics for cellulitis remain inappropriately prescribed. This evidence–practice gap is more evident in low-resource settings, such as rural hospitals. This implementation study developed and introduced a cellulitis management plan to improve antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis in three health services in regional Australia. Appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis at Day 1 was the primary outcome measure. Adults with ICD-10-AM codes for lower-limb cellulitis admitted as inpatients of the three health services between May and November 2019 (baseline, n = 165) and March and October 2020 (post-implementation, n = 127) were included in the assessment. The uptake of the cellulitis management plan was 29.1% (37/127). The appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis at Day 1 was similar at baseline (78.7%, 144/183) and in the intention-to-treat post-implementation group (81.8%, 126/154) [95% CI −5.6% to 11.3%, p = 0.50]. Commencement of the cellulitis management plan resulted in a non-statistically significant increase in antibiotic appropriateness at Day 1 compared to when a cellulitis management plan was not commenced (88.1% vs. 79.5%; 95% CI −5.6% to 19.8%; p = 0.20) Evaluation of more real-world strategies to address evidence–practice gaps, such as the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing for cellulitis, is required Language eng DOI 10.3390/antibiotics10111288 HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Free to Read? Yes Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30158394 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health School of Medicine Open Access Collection Related Links Link Description Link to full-text (open access)   Connect to Elements publication management system Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Fri, 12 Nov 2021, 07:11:26 EST Tue, 16 Nov 2021, 07:50:40 EST Fri, 26 Nov 2021, 15:09:56 EST Wed, 19 Jan 2022, 10:28:35 EST Wed, 19 Jan 2022, 15:09:08 EST Wed, 19 Jan 2022, 15:21:16 EST Wed, 19 Jan 2022, 15:28:45 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 19 Abstract Views, 0 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Fri, 12 Nov 2021, 07:11:26 EST