Antibiotic treatment of respiratory tract infections in adults in Norwegian general practice

Abstract Objectives To analyse the prevalence of respiratory tract infection (RTI) episodes with and without antibiotic prescriptions in adult patients in Norwegian general practice during the period 2012–2019. Methods Observational study linking data from the Norwegian Control and Payment for Health Reimbursements Database and the Norwegian Prescription Database. Episodes of acute RTIs in patients aged 18 years or older were identified and linked to antibiotic prescriptions dispensed within 7 days after diagnosis. We analysed annual infection rates and antibiotic prescription rates and antibiotics prescribed for the different RTI conditions. Results RTI episode rate per 1000 inhabitants was 312 in 2012 and 277 in 2019, but showed no linear trend of change during the study period (P = 0.205). Antibiotic prescription rate decreased from 37% of RTI episodes in 2012 to 23% in 2019 (P