[Antibiotic consumption between 1996 and 2003: national survey and international comparison]

To describe the qualitative and quantitative changes of antibiotic consumption in Hungarian hospitals and in the primary care setting between 1996 and 2003.

Sales data relating to community and hospital care antibiotic consumption were obtained for the 8 years period of 1996-2003. The 2003 version of the world health organisation (WHO) anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC)/ defined daily dose (DDD) system was used for calculations and the 2005 version for classifications. The final expression units were DDD/100 bed-days and DDD/1000 inhabitants/day for hospital and community care utilization, respectively. Trend analysis was applied to assess the annual changes in antimicrobial consumption.

The total antibiotic consumption in the community setting and in the hospitals remained relatively stable during the study period. The average antibiotic consumption in the community setting (20.20 +/- 1.42 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day was in line with the European average, while the national average hospital antibiotic consumption (24.81 +/- 1.69 DDD/ 100 bed-days) was very low in international benchmark. Changes in the pattern of antibiotic consumption was observed in both settings. Internationally outstanding consumption of penicillins plus beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations (J01CR) and sulphonamides and extremely low utilisation of beta lactamase resistant penicillins (J01CF) were detected. The hospital antibiotic consumption was characterized by extended use of sulphonamides, tetracyclines, and second generation cephalosporins.

The low hospital consumption of antibiotics and the internationally extreme usage of certain antibiotic groups needs further pharmacoepidemiologic analysis.