Modeling a Production Function to Evaluate the Effect of Medical Staffing on Antimicrobial Stewardship Performance in China, 2009–2016: Static and Dynamic Panel Data Analyses

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an international problem. Emergence and spread of AMR are strongly associated with overuse or inappropriate use of antimicrobials. Antimicrobial stewardship ensures the appropriate use of antimicrobials, and is an effective approach to control AMR. This study aims to understand the relationship between medical staffing and antimicrobial stewardship performance in China. Methods: A provincial-level panel dataset from 2009 to 2016 is used. A macro production function is used to quantify the relationship. The output, antimicrobial stewardship performance, is measured by changes in methicillin resistance rates of Staphylococcus. aureus (S. aureus) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS). The labor input is measured by the numbers of infectious diseases physicians, pharmacists, clinical microbiologists, and nurses in hospitals per 100,000 populations, whereas the capital input is represented by the number of hospital beds per 100,000 populations. The technology is captured by the time index. Both static and dynamic panel data approaches are employed. Results: The increasing number of clinical microbiologists is a significant predictor of lower resistance of CoNS according to dynamic models (Coef. = -0.191, -0.351; p = 0.070, 0.004, respectively). However, a larger number of nurses is significantly associated with higher resistance of S. aureus (Coef. = 0.648; p = 0.044). In addition, the numbers of the other two groups of medical professionals exhibit no significant associations with stewardship performance. Conclusions: The study demonstrates the crucial role of clinical microbiologists in antimicrobial stewardship. The predicted increased risk of resistance with the higher number of nurses may be attributable to their lack of related knowledge and their unrecognized functions in antimicrobial stewardship.