%0 Journal Article %T Evaluation of rational use of antimicrobial agents in a Brazilian intensive care unit %A Fabiana Xavier Cartaxo Salgado %A Tarquino Erastides Gavilanes Sanchez %A Noriberto Barbosa da Silva %A Hildeamo Bonif¨¢cio Oliveira %A Mauro Karnikowski %A Marg£¿ Gomes de Oliveira Karnikowski %J Health %P 188-194 %@ 1949-5005 %D 2014 %I Scientific Research Publishing %R 10.4236/health.2014.62028 %X The present study sought to assess the rational use of antimicrobial agents in a Brazilian intensive care unit (ICU) and its association with antimicrobial resistance in elderly patients admitted to the unit. Results: Choice of empiric and sensitivity-guided therapy was inadequate in > 80% and 59% of cases respectively. Inadequate antimicrobial therapy, whether empiric or sensitivity-guided, was positively correlated with bacterial resistance (r = 0.316; p = 0.001). Sensitivity testing revealed a 46.5% resistance rate to eight out of the ten most commonly used antibiotics. Multiple drug-resistant organisms were found in 40.8% of patients. A significant increase was observed in the number of multidrug-resistant samples between 2006/2007 and 2008 (r = 0.41, p = 0.006), (r = 0.598, p = 0.001), (r = 0.688, p = 0.00). Conclusion: We found a high rate of antibiotic misuse in the study sample. Inadequate therapy was correlated with resistance to antimicrobial agents. %K Rational use of Antimicrobial Agents %K Intensive Care Unit %K Microbial Resistance %U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=42487