Antimicrobial use and stewardship opportunities in Burkina Faso: findings from the first Global Point Prevalence Survey in eight hospitals

Abstract Objective: To describe the prevalence, patterns, and quality indicators of antimicrobial use (AMU) in Burkinabe hospitals and identify priorities for stewardship. Design: Multicentre, cross-sectional point prevalence survey (PPS) following the Global Point Prevalence Survey protocol. Setting: Eight public hospitals across six cities in Burkina Faso (3 primary, 3 secondary, and 2 tertiary), February–June 2019. Participants: All inpatients present on the survey day at 8:00. Medical records were reviewed for those receiving systemic antimicrobial agents. Methods: Standardized ward- and patient-level data were collected on indications, agents, routes, and WHO AWaRe categories, alongside quality indicators (documented indication, stop/review date, guideline compliance, and targeted vs empirical therapy). Descriptive analyses compared hospital tiers. Results: Of 994 inpatients, 729 (73.3%) received ≥1 antimicrobial (range by tier: tertiary 69.7%, secondary 79.2%, primary 79.2%). Community-acquired infections accounted for 96.0% of therapeutic indications. Leading reasons were skin/soft tissue infections (12.2%), gastrointestinal infections (10.7%), and pneumonia (10.4%). Parenteral administration predominated. The most used agents were ceftriaxone (27.8%), metronidazole (15.7%), and gentamicin (9.4%). By AWaRe, Access agents comprised ∼ 50%, Watch agents ∼ 50% overall, with higher Watch use in tertiary hospitals; no Reserve antibiotics were recorded. Quality indicators were suboptimal: the indication was documented in 15.6%, the stop/review date was absent in 93.0%, and 41.1% of prescriptions were guideline-compliant. Therapy was largely empirical (98.5%). Prolonged surgical prophylaxis (>1 day) represented 86.8% of prophylaxis courses. Conclusions: Antimicrobial use (AMU) prevalence in Burkinabe hospitals is high, dominated by empirical therapy and Watch-class ceftriaxone. Deficits in prescribing quality and limited diagnostic use highlight urgent needs for context-adapted antimicrobial stewardship: enforce guideline-concordant care, curb prolonged prophylaxis and unnecessary Watch-class use, and expand affordable microbiology capacity to enable targeted therapy.