Trends in antibiotic prescribing and associated indications in primary care from 1993 to 1997

Background.Recent concerns that evidence on the appropriate use of antibiotics is not having an impact on prescribing trends are based on UK prescribing data relating to 1980-1991. The aim of this paper is to determine trends in antibiotic prescribing from 1993 to 1997 and link antibiotic prescriptions to diagnostic categories. Method.A retrospective analysis of antibiotic prescriptions linked to diagnostic codes was carried out using the West Midlands General Practice Research Database. Results.The prescribing rate for antibiotics fell from 963 prescriptions/1000 patients in 1993 to 807 prescriptions/1000 patients in 1997 (p