Comparative analysis of antimicrobial susceptibility testing results and applied interpretive standards in Russian Federation medical organizations

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 15:21:59 +0000

Objective.

To assess the categorization of antimicrobial susceptibility testing results using aggregated data from microbiology laboratories in the Russian Federation for 2023 and 2024, considering interpretation standards, their versions, microorganisms, and federal districts.

Materials and Methods.

A retrospective descriptive study of aggregated microbiology laboratory data for 2023 and 2024 was performed. Data from 494 laboratories in 2023 and 520 laboratories in 2024 were included. We assessed the use and recency of interpretation standards, the proportion of errors/inaccuracies among tested results, and their distribution by type, microorganism, federal district, and standard recency group. Year-to-year comparisons included absolute differences in proportions, 95% confidence intervals, paired analysis of comparable laboratories, and a multivariable quasi-binomial generalized linear model.

Results.

In 2023, errors/inaccuracies accounted for 125,435 of 1,694,993 tested results (7.4%); in 2024, they accounted for 244,461 of 2,506,844 results (9.8%). In both years, the highest proportion was observed in laboratories using only MUK 4.2.1890-04: 31.3% in 2023 and 41.0% in 2024. In the aggregated comparison, the 2024 proportion was higher by 2.35 percentage points; however, paired analysis of 377 laboratories did not demonstrate a statistically significant unidirectional change. In the multivariable model, higher proportions remained independently associated with the “only MUK 4.2.1890-04” group and with standards of unknown version year.

Conclusions.

The frequency of errors/inaccuracies in routine laboratory reporting is determined by the combined influence of interpretation standards, their recency, microorganisms, and regional data structure. The findings support systematic quality control of AST result categorization, including review of expected resistance, rare phenotypes, and cases where interpretive criteria are absent.

interpretation criteria on КМАХ

Comparative analysis of antimicrobial susceptibility testing results and applied interpretive standards in Russian Federation medical organizations

Objective.

Materials and Methods.

Results.

Conclusions.