Method. – The authors chose to measure antibiotic consumption at the Dijon University Hospital with the Penetration Index which takes into account the quantity of antibiotics in grams (the Defined Daily Dose according to the WHO) and the number of patients-days in hospital (as an index of the activity of the various medical units). This standardized method allowed to add the penetration index of various antibiotic classes. The penetration index was calculated each trimester for each antibiotic and unit, between 1996 and 1999.
Results. – There was a significant increase in antibiotic consumption in the intensive care units, surgery units and pediatric intensive care unit (P < 0.05). The evaluation method was sufficiently sensitive to reveal specific variations in consumption, such as a drop in consumption of glycopeptides in 1998 or change in fluconazole use.
Comments. – The penetration index is a sensitive monitoring method allowing to track variations in antibiotic consumption while taking into account the level of activity in the various medical units.