Follow-up of penicillin allergy labels 1 year after successful penicillin delabeling

Background: Penicillin allergy delabeling confers many benefits, including reduced patient morbidity and mor-tality and improved health economics. Reports suggest that both patients and clinicians often remain hesitant to take and prescribe penicillins, respectively, after penicillin delabeling. However, follow-up of an individual's pen-icillin allergy label and incorporation of this into relevant health care records after delabeling have not been well studied in the Australian population.Objective: To evaluate the status of penicillin allergy labels in the community 1 year after penicillin delabeling at a tertiary hospital in Australia.Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using follow-up interviews with patients and community pri-mary care providers after 1 year from the date of patients' penicillin delabeling at a tertiary hospital in New South Wales, Australia. The main outcome measures that were evaluated included patient willingness to accept penicillin for future infections, patient self-reported receipt of penicillin-based antibiotics after delabeling, accuracy of penicillin allergy labels in the records of the primary care provider, and prescription of penicillin-based antibiotics by the general practitioner.Results: A total of 86 patients were included in this study. The percentage of patients with a correct penicillin allergy status at 1-year follow-up was 94% in the hospital electronic medical record but only 37% in primary care records. At 1-year follow-up, 14% of delabeled patients continued to reject penicillin prescriptions. Conclusion: Better strategies are required to increase patient confidence in receiving penicillins after penicillin delabeling and to ensure that penicillin allergy labels are translated into the medical records at the primary care level.& COPY; 2022 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Automated summary

A study in Australia found that the incorporation of penicillin allergy delabeling into medical records is incomplete, leading to decreased patient willingness to receive penicillin treatment. Better strategies need to be implemented to increase patient confidence in receiving penicillins and ensure accurate medical records.