Impact Assessment of Antibiotic Stewardship Programmes on Surgical Site Infections in South African Hospitals

Surgical site infections (SSI) are common in South African hospitals, with antibiotic stewardship programmes (ASP) aimed at reducing their occurrence. A mixed-methods approach combining surveys and observational data from three South African public hospitals over a year. There was a statistically significant decrease (p < 0.05) in SSI rates by 18% after implementing ASP, with a 95% confidence interval of [-23%, -12%]. The ASP led to a substantial reduction in SSI rates among healthcare workers. Further research is needed on long-term effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis. Antibiotic stewardship, Surgical site infections, Healthcare worker, South Africa, Public hospitals Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.