Journal article
Antibiotic allergy labels in children are associated with adverse clinical outcomes
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, Vol.7(3), pp.975-982
2018
Abstract
Background
Self-reported antibiotic allergies are common among hospitalised adults and children. There is a paucity of studies investigating the impact of an antibiotic allergy label in childhood.
Objective
To investigate the impact of antibiotic allergy labelling on clinical outcomes in children.
Method
Retrospective study conducted in a major paediatric tertiary hospital, to capture 1672 inpatient admissions in April 2014 and April 2015. Data, collected by chart review, included documented antibiotic allergy labels, antibiotic prescriptions, admitting specialty, hospital length of stay, and hospital readmissions.
Results
Of the 1672 paediatric patients surveyed, 58.1% were male and 44.8% were prescribed antibiotics. Antibiotic allergy labels were recorded in 5.3% of patients; the majority were beta-lactam labels (85%), mostly to unspecified penicillins. There was an increasing incidence of antibiotic allergy label with age, which was statistically significant (P<0.001); no gender effect was seen. Patients with antibiotic allergy labels received more macrolide (p=0.045), quinolones (P=0.01), lincosamide antibiotics (P<0.001) as well as metronidazole (p=0.009) than patients without an antibiotic allergy label. After adjusting for patient age, sex, principal diagnosis and admitting specialty, children with any antibiotic or beta-lactam allergy label had longer hospital lengths of stay (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.05-2.50, P=0.03; with mean length of stay of 3.8 days for those without a label and 5.2 days for those with a beta-lactam allergy label).
Conclusions
This is the first study demonstrating the negative impact of antibiotic allergy labels on clinical outcomes in children, as evidenced by significant alternate antibiotic use and longer hospital lengths of stay.
Details
- Title
- Antibiotic allergy labels in children are associated with adverse clinical outcomes
- Authors/Creators
- M. Lucas (Author/Creator) - Princess Margaret Hospital for ChildrenA. Arnold (Author/Creator) - Princess Margaret Hospital for ChildrenA. Sommerfield (Author/Creator) - The Kids Research Institute AustraliaM. Trevenen (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaL. Braconnier (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaA. Schilling (Author/Creator) - Princess Margaret Hospital for ChildrenF. Abass (Author/Creator) - Princess Margaret Hospital for ChildrenL. Slevin (Author/Creator) - The Kids Research Institute AustraliaB. Knezevic (Author/Creator) - Sir Charles Gairdner HospitalC. Blyth (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaK. Murray (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaB. von Ungern-Sternberg (Author/Creator) - The University of Western AustraliaK. Rueter (Author/Creator) - The University of Western Australia
- Publication Details
- The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, Vol.7(3), pp.975-982
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Identifiers
- 991005543966307891
- Copyright
- © 2018 Published by Elsevier Inc.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites
Metrics
27 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Industry collaboration
- Domestic collaboration
- Citation topics
- 1 Clinical & Life Sciences
- 1.265 Dermatology - Skin Allergies
- 1.265.1140 Drug Hypersensitivity
- Web Of Science research areas
- Allergy
- Immunology
- ESI research areas
- Clinical Medicine