Development and Implementation of Mobile Antibiograms to Optimize Empirical Antibiotic Prescriptions Among Prescribers in Tertiary Hospitals in Tanzania (AMR; AMU; DDD)

Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR); Antimicrobial Prescribing Practices

Treatments: Other: standard of care; Other: Mobile antibiogram application

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07393308

MUHAS-REC-10-2025-3152

224127 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical issue, especially in Africa, with resistance to common antibiotics reaching 100% in some areas. In Tanzania, limited access to culture tests and antibiograms forces healthcare providers to rely on experience for prescribing, heightening AMR risks. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of mobile antibiograms in optimizing empirical antibiotic therapy in tertiary hospitals in Tanzania.

Full description

A pragmatic quasi-experimental design (hybrid type 1 trial) will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile antibiograms on antibiotic use. The key role of the antibiogram is to guide empirical treatment of symptomatic infections using antibiotics ie., the antibiogram contains a list of susceptible and resistant antibiotics enabling the prescriber to rationally choose the antibiotic which is effective in clearing the infection. The study employs a three-phase, stepwise approach to assess and enhance antimicrobial use in Tanzanian hospitals. The first phase will be a baseline assessment using World Health Organization's Point Prevalence Survey and defined daily dose (DDD) to determine the pattern of antibiotic utilization and consumption respectively. The second phase involves developing a mobile antibiogram application through a participatory design with healthcare stakeholders. The final phase will use a quasi-experimental design to test the effectiveness of the mobile antibiogram on antimicrobial stewardship metrics like DDD per 1000 patient days, antibiotic appropriateness, infection-related mortality and length of hospital stay. The study sites will be Mbeya Zonal Referral Hospital (MZRH) as the intervention group and Benjamini Mkapa Hospital (BMH) as the control group. Additionally, a mixed-methods design (explanatory sequential design) will be used to assess the acceptability, feasibility, and adoption of the mobile antibiograms.

Enrollment: 300 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria

1. All prescribers working in the selected tertiary referral hospitals
2. All prescribers owning smartphones
3. Prescribers who consent to take part in the study

Exclusion criteria

1. Temporarily employed prescribers

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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300 participants in 2 patient groups

standard of care

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will be subjected to manual antibiogram which is the standard of care to guide the empirical prescription of antibiotics

Treatment:

Other: standard of care

Mobile antibiogram

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will be assigned to the mobile antibiogram application to guide the empirical prescription of antibiotics in addition to standard of care.

Treatment:

Other: Mobile antibiogram application