Background The rising threat of antibiotic resistance is linked to patterns of antibiotic use in hospital settings. Along the same lines, global efforts have been undertaken to encourage reporting and benchmarking antibiotic consumption in an attempt to decrease antibiotic resistance and improve antibiotic prescribing.

Purpose The objective of this study was to assess antibiotic consumption in Lebanese hospitals based on a retrospective study conducted during 2012 for a 12 month period using pharmacy department records from 27 non-teaching hospitals across Lebanon and to compare these results with those from 2013–2014.

Material and methods Data from each hospital were recorded based on the Anatomical, Therapeutic and Chemical classification system and defined daily dose (ATC/DDD), recommended by the WHO. Data included hospital demographic information and antibiotic consumptions by patient. Data were compiled and analysed using ABC Calc software V.3.1.

Results Collected data in 2013–2014 showed that average antibiotic consumption (excluding paediatric cases) was 77.5657 DDD per 100 bed days (DDD/100 BD) which did not vary significantly compared with the findings in 2012 where average antibiotic consumption was 72.56 (DDD/100 BD). The total broad spectrum antibiotic consumption was 12.14 DDD/100 BD and there were no significant differences found between public and private hospitals (p>0.05l).

The most commonly used antibiotics via parenteral routes were amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ceftriaxone, amoxicillin and cefuroxime. Consumption of beta-lactams, cephalosporins, carbapenems, monobactams and quinolones did not vary significantly by region, hospital occupancy rate or number of beds.

Conclusion Our data provide baseline information on patterns of antibiotic consumption in Lebanese hospitals. Efforts should be amplified to encourage data reporting at the national level to correlate the results in the future with antibiotic resistance patterns. Future projects should be aimed at evaluating tools needed to assess the public health consequences of antimicrobial misuse.

References and/or acknowledgements We thank all the healthcare professionals in hospitals involved in the survey.

No conflict of interest