European and Russian physician awareness of best management approaches for infections due to antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria

Abstract

Objectives: The rapid spread of infections due to antibiotic-resistant, Gram-negative bacteria in Europe and surrounding regions requires a heightened level of awareness among physicians within their practice settings.

Methods: We surveyed 800 physicians who treat these infections across France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Russia to assess their awareness of best management approaches.

Results: We found that more than two-thirds do not consider themselves highly aware of best management practices. The respondents are facing these resistant infections as evidenced by the antibiotics they report using and their stated interest in newer agents. Respondents indicated that precious time is lost waiting for culture results, but also said they will need more information about accuracy, use, and costs for adopting rapid molecular testing.

Conclusions: The survey further identified the need for treatment guidelines and clinical decision support tools that can be applied at the bedside.

Keywords:

• Anti-bacterial agents
• drug resistance
• Gram-negative bacteria
• Gram-negative bacterial infections

Transparency

Declaration of funding

This study was funded by AstraZeneca.

Author contributions: Research design: P.I., T.S., R.E., and E.E. Survey design: M.L.-P. Manuscript development: J.R.T. Analytical methods development: R.E., M.K. and J.R.T. Data analysis: R.E., M.L.-P., R.A. and M.K. Interpretation of results: P.I., T.S., R.E., M.L.-P., R.A., M.K., E.E. and J.R.T. Manuscript review: P.I., T.S., R.E., M.L.-P., R.A., M.K., and E.E.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

P.I. has disclosed that he was an employee of and shareholder in AstraZeneca at the time of the study, and is currently an employee of Pfizer. T.S. has disclosed that she is a former employee of AstraZeneca. R.E and J.R.T have disclosed that they are employees of Epstein Health LLC, which received funding from AstraZeneca for research design, analysis and manuscript composition. E.E has disclosed that she is an employee of Epstein Health LLC, which received funding from AstraZeneca for her role as service project manager. M.L-P has disclosed that she is a consultant to HealthiVibe LLC, where she served as lead research scientist for this project.

R.A and M.K have disclosed that they have no significant relationships with or financial interests in any commercial companies related to this study or article.

CMRO peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the participation of survey respondents. Editorial support was provided by Prime, Knutsford, UK, funded by AstraZeneca.

Previous presentation: A subset of the results of this survey were presented at the 28th Annual Congress of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, 5 October 2015 in Berlin, Germany.