737 - A Descriptive Analysis of Fluconazole Utilization at Two Academic Medical Centers in the Valley Fever Corridor of Arizona

Background: Fluconazole (fluc) is a common antifungal used at hospitals and is an important target for antimicrobial stewardship (AS). Fluc is also used for management of coccidioidomycosis (C). The objective of our study was to describe fluc prescribing patterns at two academic centers in Arizona.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of fluc usage in adult patients. One month from each quarter in a one-year period (November 2017-November 2018) was selected (4 months in total). All adult patients that received fluc at Hospital A and Hospital B in the selected months were identified. Patient demographic information and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) to quantify the degree of comorbidity were collected. We then analyzed patients in the study by defining the fluc usage as directed towards C management or non-C management (e.g., candidiasis). In the C management group, we characterized the initial fluc dose during the patient’s course as directed for empiric, targeted, or prophylaxis treatment. Finally, we performed further analysis of the empiric C group. The study received IRB approval from our institution.

Results: During our study period, 1239 patients were included in the analysis. Patient information is shown in Table 1. Overall, most of the fluc usage was directed towards C management (63.5%, 787/1239).  A significant amount of that usage was directed towards C prophylaxis at both Hospital A and B (67.4% (234/347) and 75% (330/440), respectively). In addition, fluc usage directed towards empiric C management was higher at Hospital A versus Hospital B (18.4% (64/347) versus 9.5% (42/440), respectively). Further patient data for the empiric C group is shown in Table 2.Table 1: Patient information from Hospital A and Hospital B
Table 2: Patient information for Fluconazole Utilization Directed Towards Empiric Coccidioidomycosis Management at Hospital A and Hospital B


Conclusion: We report the results of a descriptive study that demonstrate that 63.5% of fluc usage in adults at two academic medical centers in Arizona was directed for C management. In addition to traditional fluc targets for AS, our study highlights C prophylaxis in solid organ transplant recipients and empiric C management as AS targets in endemic regions. These targets are especially important due to the risk for selection of azole-resistant Candida species and invasive molds with increased antifungal exposure.