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Trends in primary care antibiotic prescribing in England 1994-1998
1Prescribing Research Group, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GF, UK.
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.