AHRQ

Antibiotics overprescribed for pediatric infections at hospital discharge

December 31, 2025

Only one in five children discharged from the hospital with a diagnosis of infection received optimal prescriptions in terms of both antibiotic selection and duration, according to an AHRQ-funded study in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. Researchers analyzed electronic health records from 1,206 encounters across four children’s hospitals with antibiotic stewardship programs throughout 2021, including 226 cases of community-acquired pneumonia, 417 UTIs, and 563 skin or soft-tissue infections. Optimal prescribing was defined as selecting antibiotics and treatment durations recommended by national and hospital guidelines—for example, a 4- to 6-day course of amoxicillin for pneumonia. Overall, the choice of antibiotic was optimal in 77% of encounters, treatment duration was optimal in only 26%, and only 20% were optimal in both choice and duration. Findings point to a need for stewardship interventions that target discharge prescribing, an area often overlooked in current programs.

Sources:

(2025, December 28). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Subject: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Weekly Digest Bulletin [email].

Same RG, et al. (2025, April 8). Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. Discharge antibiotic prescribing at children's hospitals with established antimicrobial stewardship programs. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40196890/