The University of Minnesota (UMN) is recruiting U.S. small animal general and referral practices to participate in a 2021 national point-prevalence survey (PPS) to gather data on antibiotic use in dogs and cats. Data from a single day of clinical practice will be collected from all participating clinics for national-level aggregation and analysis. This approach is modeled after CDC’s methodology to estimate national antibiotic use and healthcare-associated infections in hospitals and nursing homes (e.g., Pub Med ID 32519751, 30380384).
The time commitment for participation each year is expected to be 1 hour for online training, 1–5 hours for data entry based on patient caseload, and follow-up communication with UMN for data validation. Participating clinics will be provided with all information (e.g., standard operating procedures, data dictionary) needed for data collection. Data collected will include patient signalment, visit type (i.e., wellness, sick, recheck, procedure), chief complaint, diagnostic tests, and imaging conducted, and antibiotics (drug, dose, duration, frequency, route) prescribed.
Please see the UMN Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship Initiative (ARSI) website (https://arsi.umn.edu/gppps) or email attachment for additional information. While you are on the ARSI website, please see the new resources available for small animal practice, including the Handbook of Antibiotic Stewardship in Companion Animal Veterinary Settings (https://arsi.umn.edu/handbook-antibiotic-stewardship-companion-animal-veterinary-settings) and the Excel-based Antibiotic Use Tracking Tool (https://arsi.umn.edu/tracking). The national PPS will help us to improve these resources and develop new tools to support antimicrobial stewardship in companion animal practice.
To inquire or express interest in participating, please email Emma Leof Bollig, Program Manager and Epidemiologist, University of Minnesota, at [email protected] or online at z.umn.edu/gppps. Funding for this project is being made possible by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through grant number 1U01FD007061-01. Individual participating facility data are not shared with FDA.
Posted May 28, 2021