Epidemiological interpretation of studies examining the effect of antibiotic usage on resistance

Vered Schechner, Elizabeth Temkin, Stephan Harbarth, Yehuda Carmeli, Mitchell J. Schwaber

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

138 Scopus citations

Abstract

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a growing clinical problem and public health threat. Antibiotic use is a known risk factor for the emergence of antibiotic resistance, but demonstrating the causal link between antibiotic use and resistance is challenging. This review describes different study designs for assessing the association between antibiotic use and resistance and discusses strengths and limitations of each. Approaches to measuring antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance are presented. Important methodological issues such as confounding, establishing temporality, and control group selection are examined.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)289-307
Number of pages19
JournalClinical Microbiology Reviews
Volume26
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
Seventh Framework Programme241796, 282512, 278348

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