We conducted a retrospective quasi-experimental study of BSI patients at a single Japanese university hospital. AST provided recommendations to attending physicians regarding appropriate diagnosis, therapy, and management of BSI patients after reviewing medical charts.
We identified a total of 308 cases of BSI from January to December, 2012 (pre-intervention group) and 324 cases of BSI from April, 2013 to March, 2014 (post-intervention group). No significant differences in the in-hospital mortality or 30-day mortality rates were observed between both the groups. Inappropriate therapy was initiated in a significantly lower proportion of patients in the post-intervention group (18.5% vs. 11.4%; P = 0.012). Multivariate analysis confirmed that inappropriate therapy was significantly associated with in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 2.62; 95% confidence interval, 1.42–4.82; P = 0.002).
An interdisciplinary AST intervention approach decreases the use of inappropriate therapy and may improve clinical outcomes in BSI patients.