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 (i.e. age, sex and co-morbidities). Of the 21,272 patients with no penicillin allergy, 225 (1.06%) were prescribed meropenem, whereas of the 3443 patients 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.
Keywords: Broad-spectrum antibiotics; Meropenem; Penicillin allergy.
Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.