Quality-of-Life Assessment in an Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Program (original) (raw)

2002, Annals of Pharmacotherapy

O utpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) programs for adult patients are considered an accepted alternative to inpatient therapy for select patients and infection types. 1-4 OPAT programs have been demonstrated 5-7 to be a safe alternative to hospitalization. Cost analysis of OPAT programs in the US, Canada, and other settings have been reported. 5, An adult OPAT program was implemented at our hospital in 1995. 14 Patients are enrolled in the program if they have a proven or suspected infection requiring ≥1 parenter-al antimicrobials for an expected minimum duration of 5 days, are medically stable, have an acceptable venous access, demonstrate willingness and capability to perform the necessary self-management tasks, and live in a suitable home environment. Once patients are enrolled, the OPAT pharmacist and nurses provide patient education, insert the appropriate vascular device, establish a liaison with community nursing personnel, coordinate delivery of drugs and supplies, and arrange appropriate patient follow-up. A cost analysis 15 conducted at our institution demonstrated significant cost avoidance for both the hospital and the Ministry of Health. Patient satisfaction surveys have shown that the program has been well received. However, tradi-OBJECTIVE: To measure changes and to identify predictors of change of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for enrollees into an outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) program.

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