{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T06:58:09Z","timestamp":1780901889737,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO\/EMRO)","issue":"5","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["East Mediterr Health J."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: There is a lack of national data on antibiotic consumption by teaching hospitals in Islamic Republic of Iran based on the WHO access,  watch and reserve categorisation.\nAim: To quantify antibiotic consumption by teaching hospitals in Islamic Republic of Iran.\nMethods: We analysed antibiotic consumption data for March 2023 to March 2024 across all 248 teaching hospitals in the 10 regions of Islamic Republic of Iran, using the WHO-defined daily dose methodology and the access, watch and reserve categorisation.\nResults: Median antibiotic consumption was 299 defined daily dose per  100 admissions per day. Hospitals in Region 10 had the highest overall consumption (24.3% of total consumption), while  Region 7 showed the highest use of reserve group antibiotics. Across all hospitals and regions, watch antibiotics were the most used (61%), followed by access (37%) and reserve (2%). Ceftriaxone 1 g and cefazolin 1 g were the most frequently used (11% of total consumption each), followed by meropenem 1 g injection (8.8%) and vancomycin 0.5 g (7%).\nConclusion: Our findings show high reliance on watch antibiotics, extensive cephalosporin use and prevalent parenteral formulations. There is a need to assess the appropriateness of antibiotic use in Iranian teaching hospitals in order to strengthen antibiotic stewardship.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.26719\/2026.32.5.278","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T06:04:21Z","timestamp":1780898661000},"page":"278-284","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Antibiotic consumption patterns in Iranian teaching hospitals"],"prefix":"10.26719","volume":"32","author":[{"given":"Azita","family":"Nabizadeh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Assessment and Control of Prescribing and Use of Medicines, Iran Food and Drug Administration, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zahra","family":"Jahangard-Rafsanjani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Assessment and Control of Prescribing and Use of Medicines, Iran Food and Drug Administration, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran; Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Seyed Heidar","family":"Mohammadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Iran Food and Drug Administration, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammadreza","family":"Salehi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Antibiotic Stewardship and Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, Department of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Neda","family":"Khoz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Assessment and Control of Prescribing and Use of Medicines, Iran Food and Drug Administration, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fatemeh","family":"Nosrati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Assessment and Control of Prescribing and Use of Medicines, Iran Food and Drug Administration, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arian","family":"Radfar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Alborz, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arshad","family":"Altaf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Robert F.","family":"Terry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Srinath","family":"Satyanarayana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Operational Research, International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, New Delhi, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marjan","family":"Farzami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Reference Laboratory, Reference Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Minaeian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Antimicrobial Resistance Research Centre, Institute of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bobson Derrick","family":"Fofanah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"World Health Organization Country Office, Freetown, Sierra Leone"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"11263","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]]},"container-title":["Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/applications.emro.who.int\/EMHJ\/V32\/05\/1020-3397-2026-3205-278-284-eng.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]],"date-time":"2026-06-08T06:04:22Z","timestamp":1780898662000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/applications.emro.who.int\/EMHJ\/V32\/05\/1020-3397-2026-3205-278-284-eng.pdf"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.26719\/2026.32.5.278","relation":{},"ISSN":["1020-3397","1687-1634"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1020-3397","type":"print"},{"value":"1687-1634","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,8]]}}}