ESAC point prevalence methodology to assess antimicrobial consumption and quality of prescribing in an Australian setting

To the Editor: Point prevalence studies have been used for many years as markers of antimicrobial consumption,1,2 but they have suffered from a lack of standardisation with regard to the populations studied and the data collected. These deficiencies make it difficult to generalise the data outside the study populations. In recent years, the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC) has sought to overcome these weaknesses by implementing a web-based point prevalence survey in 20 European countries using standardised definitions for site of infection, indication and quality indicators, such as whether the indication for prescription is documented in the case notes.3 As Australian studies of this type have not been published, we undertook a pilot study to assess whether this point prevalence tool is feasible and useful in an Australian setting.