Are doctors aware of the PK-PD-based antimicrobial agent dosage and how to apply it? - Involving clinicians/practitioners

Performance of a pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic(PK-PD) analysis is important to select the appropriate antimicrobial agent dosage. No information on the spread of dosage determination based on a PK-PD analysis has, to our knowledge, been reported. We studied how the PK-PD concept has spread among clinicians/practitioners responsible for primary care. Among the respondents, 34% of the physicians selected "know well" or "know to some extent", whereas 40% selected "do not know". Furthermore, 34% of the physicians reported that they considered the PK-PD concept "sufficiently" or "to some extent" when prescribing antimicrobial agents, whereas 42% did not consider this concept at all. The results suggest that the level of recognition or consideration shows no association with age. With respect to the daily dose most frequently used when prescribing levofloxacin tablets to adults without kidney dysfunction, 49% of the physicians reported "500 mg, once a day". When the level of consideration of the PK-PD theory for prescription was markedly lower, the number of prescriptions other than "500 mg, once a day" was greater. In the future, it may be important to educate non-infectious-disease-specialized clinicians/practitioners with respect to the PK-PD analysis and its practical application in order to promote the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents.