The impact of penicillin allergy records on carbapenem prescribing: an observational retrospective cohort study: Meropenem prescribing associated with penicillin allergy records.

Penicillin allergy labels have been associated with second line antibiotic prescribing. This study measured the impact of penicillin allergy labels on meropenem prescribing. Rates of meropenem prescribing were compared between patients with a penicillin allergy record and patients without such a record. Potential confounders were also collected (age, sex, co-morbidity). Of the 21,272 patients with no penicillin allergy 225 (1.06%) were prescribed meropenem, whereas of the 3443 with penicillin allergy 240 (6.97%) were prescribed meropenem. Meropenem prescribing is associated with a patient's penicillin allergy record. Given that many penicillin allergy records are incorrect, addressing spurious penicillin allergy labels may reduce meropenem prescribing.