Figure 3

The number of antibiotic discontinuations on each day of the week and on the day after a holiday among 2 hospitals with antimicrobial stewardship team activities (A, B) and among 2 hospitals where infectious disease specialists work full-time (C, D). Weekly data are shown as median and box (interquartile range) and whisker (minimum and maximum within 1.5 times the interquartile range) plots. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to determine the differences among the weekdays (A, C) and days 1 to 5 (B, D). Significant differences were observed, and then the Mann–Whitney U test with Bonferroni correction was used to determine the differences in antibiotic discontinuation between days. AST activities include direct advice on antibiotic prescription to the attending physician at Tsuyama Chuo Hospital (TCH) and at Okayama City Hospital. Infectious disease specialists work full-time, and attending doctors can consult them about antibiotic prescription at Okayama University Hospital and TCH.