Role of pharmacist in the Antimicrobial Stewardship in Brazilian context: a narrative review

Abstract

The purpose of this narrative review is to identify studies that describe the role of pharmacist in the antimicrobials management in Brazil. A literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Scopus, LILACS, Google Scholar, and manual research for other sources, using the terms “antimicrobial stewardship”, “pharmacist”, “rational use of antimicrobials”, for studies published between January 1st, 2010 and September 30th, 2021. The results were are presented as a narrative synthesis and categorized into two groups: area of expertise of the pharmacist in the antimicrobial stewardship program and the benefits of implementing an antimicrobial stewardship program in which the pharmacist is part of the team. Twenty-four studies were included in this review. Most studies included in this review was original articles (n=16, 66.6%), followed by theses and dissertations (n=8, 33.3%). Most studies conducted an observational, with greater frequency in the Northeast region, and with the highest prevalence in hospital setting (n = 23, 95.8%). Almost all studies related positive results, such as the reduction in the consumption of antimicrobials, cost reduction and a reduction in the emergence of bacterial resistance, in the topic of “benefits obtained from the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs”. Regarding the studies that described the role of the pharmacist in the ASP, all of them emphasized the importance and the benefits obtained with the presence of a pharmacist in the interdisciplinary team. Thus, the urgency of implementing ASP with the presence of a clinical pharmacist in health care setting is demonstrated, both hospital and outpatient settings.