Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2016 Mar;25 Suppl 1(Suppl Suppl 1):11-20.
doi: 10.1002/pds.3831. Epub 2015 Jul 7.

Prevalence of antibiotic use: a comparison across various European health care data sources

Ruth Brauer  1 , Ana Ruigómez  2 , Gerry Downey  3 , Andrew Bate  4 , Luis Alberto Garcia Rodriguez  2 , Consuelo Huerta  5 , Miguel Gil  5 , Francisco de Abajo  6   7 , Gema Requena  7 , Yolanda Alvarez  8 , Jim Slattery  8 , Mark de Groot  9 , Patrick Souverein  9 , Ulrik Hesse  10 , Marietta Rottenkolber  11 , Sven Schmiedl  12   13 , Frank de Vries  9   14   15 , Maurille Feudjo Tepie  3 , Raymond Schlienger  16 , Liam Smeeth  1 , Ian Douglas  1 , Robert Reynolds  17 , Olaf Klungel  9
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Prevalence of antibiotic use: a comparison across various European health care data sources

Ruth Brauer et al. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: antibiotic agents; descriptive study; international comparisons; pharmacoepidemiology; primary care databases.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of the annual prevalence of antibiotic use (2004–2009) in seven European health care databases (crude and age/sex standardized). CPRD, Clinical Practice Research Datalink; THIN, The Health Improvement Network; BIFAP, Base de datos para la Investigacion Farmacoepidemiologica en Atencion Primaria; NPCRD, Netherlands Primary Care Research Database; AHC, Almere Healthcare group; DKMA, Danish Health and Medicines Authority
Figure 2
Figure 2
Point prevalence of antibiotic use (2004–2009) in five European health care databases. CPRD, Clinical Practice Research Datalink; BIFAP, Base de datos para la Investigacion Farmacoepidemiologica en Atencion Primaria; NPCRD, Netherlands Primary Care Research Database; AHC, Almere Healthcare group; DKMA, Danish Health and Medicines Authority
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of 1‐year‐period prevalence of antibiotic use (2008) in seven European databases by age*. CPRD, Clinical Practice Research Datalink; THIN, The Health Improvement Network; BIFAP, Base de datos para la Investigacion Farmacoepidemiologica en Atencion Primaria; NPCRD, Netherlands Primary Care Research Database; AHC, Almere Healthcare group; DKMA, Danish Health and Medicines Authority
Figure 4
Figure 4
Proportional use of different types of antibiotic agents over time in six European databases in 2004 and 2008. CPRD, Clinical Practice Research Datalink; THIN, The Health Improvement Network; BIFAP, Base de datos para la Investigacion Farmacoepidemiologica en Atencion Primaria; NPCRD, Netherlands Primary Care Research Database; AHC, Almere Healthcare group; DKMA, Danish Health and Medicines Authority
Figure 5
Figure 5
Proportional number of prescriptions/dispensings per individual across five databases in 2008. CPRD, Clinical Practice Research Datalink; THIN, The Health Improvement Network; BIFAP
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adriaenssens N, Coenen S, Versporten A, et al. European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC): outpatient antibiotic use in Europe (1997–2009). J Antimicrob Chemother. Dec 2011; 66 Suppl 6: vi3–12. - PubMed
    1. Goossens H, Ferech M, Vander Stichele R, Elseviers M. Outpatient antibiotic use in Europe and association with resistance: a cross‐national database study. Lancet. Feb 12–18 2005; 365(9459): 579–587. - PubMed
    1. Molstad S, Lundborg CS, Karlsson AK, Cars O. Antibiotic prescription rates vary markedly between 13 European countries. Scand J Infect Dis 2002; 34(5): 366–371. - PubMed
    1. Bjerrum L MA, Reutskiy A, Llor C, Cots JM, Caballero L, Ovhed I, Strandberg E, Radzeviciene R, Gahrn‐Hansen B. Respiratory tract infections in general practice: total results 2008/2009 from 6 countries and 618/511 GPs. 2010. http://www.happyaudit.org/files/pub/4398.pdf. Accessed December 17, 2012.
    1. Datalink Clinical Practice Research. Observational data. http://www.cprd.com/ObservationalData/CodedData.asp#Primarycare. Accessed December 17, 2012.

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances