Trend of antibiotics usage for acute pyelonephritis in Korea based on national health insurance data 2010–2014

Background The objective of this study is to describe the changes in prescribing practices of antibiotics to treat acute pyelonephritis (APN) in Korea. Methods The claim data base of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service in Korea was used to select patients with ICD-10 codes N10 (acute tubulo-interstitial nephritis) or N12 (tubulo-interstitial nephritis, not specified as acute nor chronic) as the primary discharge diagnosis during 2010–2014. Consumption of each class of antibiotics was converted to Defined Daily Dose (DDD)/event. Results Throughout the five-year period, the average antibiotic consumption were 11.3 DDD per inpatient event and 6.0 DDD per outpatient event. The annual average antibiotic consumption increased for inpatients ( P = 0.002), but remained stable for outpatients ( P = 0.066). The use of parenteral antibiotics increased for inpatients ( P < 0.001), but decreased for outpatients ( P = 0.017). As for the the antibiotic classes, 3 rd generation cephalosporins (3 rd CEPs) was the most commonly prescribed (41.4%) for inpatients, followed by fluoroquinolones (FQs) (28.5%); for outpatient, FQs (54.8%) was the most commonly prescribed, followed by 3 rd CEPs (13.1%). The use of 3 rd CEPs ( P < 0.001), beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitors ( P = 0.007), and carbapenems ( P < 0.001) increased substantially for the treatment of hospitalized APN patients. In particular, carbapenems use increased 3.1-fold over the 5 years. Conclusions Prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics increased much for the treatment of APN in Korea during 2010–2014.