Yang, Y.-T. orcid.org/0000-0001-5880-4827, Wong, D. orcid.org/0000-0001-8117-9193, Zhong, X. orcid.org/0000-0002-3448-6702 et al. (10 more authors) (2024) Exploring Prior Antibiotic Exposure Characteristics for COVID-19 Hospital Admission Patients: OpenSAFELY. Antibiotics, 13 (6). 566. ISSN 2079-6382
Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated the association between antibiotic use and severe COVID-19 outcomes. This study aimed to explore detailed antibiotic exposure characteristics among COVID-19 patients. Using the OpenSAFELY platform, which integrates extensive health data and covers 40% of the population in England, the study analysed 3.16 million COVID-19 patients with at least two prior antibiotic prescriptions. These patients were compared to up to six matched controls without hospitalisation records. A machine learning model categorised patients into ten groups based on their antibiotic exposure history over the three years before their COVID-19 diagnosis. The study found that for COVID-19 patients, the total number of prior antibiotic prescriptions, diversity of antibiotic types, broad-spectrum antibiotic prescriptions, time between first and last antibiotics, and recent antibiotic use were associated with an increased risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. Patients in the highest decile of antibiotic exposure had an adjusted odds ratio of 4.8 for severe outcomes compared to those in the lowest decile. These findings suggest a potential link between extensive antibiotic use and the risk of severe COVID-19. This highlights the need for more judicious antibiotic prescribing in primary care, primarily for patients with higher risks of infection-related complications, which may better offset the potential adverse effects of repeated antibiotic use.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | antibiotics; COVID-19; primary care |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Centre for Health Services Research (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 05 Jul 2024 14:17 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jul 2024 14:17 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI AG |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/antibiotics13060566 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:213837 |