TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of antibiotic use
T2 - a comparison across various European health care data sources
AU - Brauer, Ruth
AU - Ruigómez, Ana
AU - Downey, Gerry
AU - Bate, Andrew
AU - Garcia Rodriguez, Luis Alberto
AU - Huerta, Consuelo
AU - Gil, Miguel
AU - de Abajo, Francisco
AU - Requena, Gema
AU - Alvarez, Yolanda
AU - Slattery, Jim
AU - de Groot, Mark
AU - Souverein, Patrick
AU - Hesse, Ulrik
AU - Rottenkolber, Marietta
AU - Schmiedl, Sven
AU - de Vries, Frank
AU - Tepie, Maurille Feudjo
AU - Schlienger, Raymond
AU - Smeeth, Liam
AU - Douglas, Ian
AU - Reynolds, Robert
AU - Klungel, Olaf
PY - 2016/4/1
Y1 - 2016/4/1
N2 - PURPOSE: There is widespread concern about increases in antibiotic use, but comparative data from different European countries on rates of use are lacking. This study was designed to measure and understand the variation in antibiotic utilization across five European countries.METHODS: Seven European healthcare databases with access to primary care data from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK were used to measure and compare the point and 1-year-period prevalence of antibiotic use between 2004 and 2009. Descriptive analyses were stratified by gender, age and type of antibiotic. Separate analyses were performed to measure the most common underlying indications leading to the prescription of an antibiotic.RESULTS: The average yearly period prevalence of antibiotic use varied from 15 (Netherlands) to 30 (Spain) users per 100 patients. A higher prevalence of antibiotic use by female patients, the very young (0-9 years) and old (80+ years), was observed in all databases. The lowest point prevalence was recorded in June and September and ranged from 0.51 (Netherlands) to 1.47 (UK) per 100 patients per day. Twelve percent (Netherlands) to forty-nine (Spain) percent of all users were diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection, and the most common type of antibiotic prescribed were penicillin.CONCLUSION: Using identical methodology in seven EU databases to assess antibiotic use allowed us to compare drug usage patterns across Europe. Our results contribute quantitatively to the true understanding of similarities and differences in the use of antibiotic agents in different EU countries. © 2015 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
AB - PURPOSE: There is widespread concern about increases in antibiotic use, but comparative data from different European countries on rates of use are lacking. This study was designed to measure and understand the variation in antibiotic utilization across five European countries.METHODS: Seven European healthcare databases with access to primary care data from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK were used to measure and compare the point and 1-year-period prevalence of antibiotic use between 2004 and 2009. Descriptive analyses were stratified by gender, age and type of antibiotic. Separate analyses were performed to measure the most common underlying indications leading to the prescription of an antibiotic.RESULTS: The average yearly period prevalence of antibiotic use varied from 15 (Netherlands) to 30 (Spain) users per 100 patients. A higher prevalence of antibiotic use by female patients, the very young (0-9 years) and old (80+ years), was observed in all databases. The lowest point prevalence was recorded in June and September and ranged from 0.51 (Netherlands) to 1.47 (UK) per 100 patients per day. Twelve percent (Netherlands) to forty-nine (Spain) percent of all users were diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection, and the most common type of antibiotic prescribed were penicillin.CONCLUSION: Using identical methodology in seven EU databases to assess antibiotic use allowed us to compare drug usage patterns across Europe. Our results contribute quantitatively to the true understanding of similarities and differences in the use of antibiotic agents in different EU countries. © 2015 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KW - descriptive study
KW - primary care databases
KW - international comparisons
KW - antibiotic agents
KW - pharmacoepidemiology
U2 - 10.1002/pds.3831
DO - 10.1002/pds.3831
M3 - Article
C2 - 26152658
SN - 1053-8569
VL - 25
SP - 11
EP - 20
JO - Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety
JF - Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety
IS - Suppl. S1
ER -