Trends in primary care antibiotic prescribing in England 1994–1998

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the changing decisions to prescribe antibiotics as manifest in the patterns of prescriptions dispensed in England, and to investigate antibiotic prescribing in different types of practice.Methods: Antibiotic prescribing data and practice characteristics collected for every practice in England for the years 1994/5–1997/8. Morbidity data for common infections was also obtained from published sources.Results: Antibiotic prescribing was related to practice characteristics, with high prescribing in deprived and single‐handed practices in particular. There was a fall in antibiotic prescribing in all types of practice of practice over the period of the study. Morbidity data from other sources shows a fall in diagnosed morbidity from some infectious diseases over the same period. There were no differences in choice of antibiotic in different types of practice.Conclusions: The fall in antibiotic prescribing is universal across all kinds of practices and is possibly related to the fall in diagnoses. It is uncertain whether this reflects true morbidity. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.