Delabeling of Penicillin Allergy: Room for Improvement

Background: Penicillin allergy labels have been shown to be associated with suboptimal treatment, negative health outcomes, and increased antibiotic resistance. Many inpatients claim to have penicillin allergy, but studies show that allergy can be disproved and the label removed in up to 90% of cases. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate the proportion of patients with a penicillin allergy label in a Danish hospital and to classify patients according to the risk of having penicillin allergy in no risk, low, and high risk. Methods: For 22 days, inpatients with penicillin allergy labels were interviewed, had their dispensed penicillin prescriptions examined, and were subsequently categorized into risk groups based on the risk evaluation criteria in national guidelines. Results: In total, 260 patients had a penicillin allergy label (10% of the inpatients). Out of 151 included patients, 25 were no risk patients (17%), who could potentially have their penicillin allergy label removed without testing. 42 were low-risk patients (28%). 10 no risk patients and 20 low-risk patients had been prescribed and dispensed one or more penicillins despite an allergy label. Conclusion: Ten percent of inpatients have a penicillin allergy label in a Danish hospital. 17% of these could potentially have their penicillin allergy label removed without allergy testing.

Automated summary

This study investigated the proportion of patients with penicillin allergy labels in a Danish hospital and classified them into no risk, low risk, and high-risk categories based on guidelines. The results showed that 10% of inpatients had a penicillin allergy label, and 17% of them could potentially have their label removed without allergy testing.