Days of Antibiotic Spectrum Coverage: A New Method for Assessing Antimicrobial Use and Challenges in its Development

Abstract

Traditional metrics for assessing antimicrobial usage, such as antimicrobial use density and days of therapy, do not reflect the antimicrobial spectrum of the drugs used, thereby limiting the evaluation of programs aimed at promoting the use of narrow-spectrum antimicrobial agents. To overcome this limitation, a new metric using days of antibiotic spectrum coverage (DASC) was developed. DASC uses the antibiotic spectrum coverage (ASC) score, assigning a score based on the categories of microorganisms covered by the antibiotics used in healthcare facilities, thereby providing an assessment of the antimicrobial spectrum of the antibiotics. Despite this innovative approach, the implementation of DASC faces challenges, including validation of already-defined ASC scores, achieving consensus on undefined drugs, and integration into a national surveillance system. This study examines the potential applications of DASC in domestic healthcare facilities and proposes strategies for addressing the challenges associated with its implementation.