E-drug: Greek doctors prescribe the most antibiotics
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[Copied as fair use. HH]
BMJ 2002;324:1236 (25 May 2002)
Greek doctors prescribe the most antibiotics
Roger Dobson Abergavenny
European countries differ substantially in the use of antibiotics, a study
has found.
The variations were in the volume of drugs dispensed and the types of
antibiotics used in the 13 countries surveyed. There were also
differences in prescribing trends.
Greece topped the prescribing list, with 1350 prescriptions per 1000 in
the population, closely followed by Spain, with 1320, and then
Belgium, with 1070. The Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria had the
lowest, with 390, 460, and 480.
The report, which points out that studies have shown higher rates of
resistance in southern than in northern Europe in both community
acquired and hospital infections, says that a lack of publicly available,
comparable data on antibiotic use in most European countries has been
an obstacle to investigating links between resistance and use.
The research, reported in the Scandinavian Journal of Infectious
Diseases (2002;34:366-71), looked at prescribing rates in Austria,
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
"There was a trend towards an increased number of prescriptions per
1000 inhabitants in the countries of Southern Europe," says the
report. "When comparing neighbouring countries, major differences
were evident, for example those between Belgium and The
Netherlands."
The most common antibiotic drug in six of the countries was extended
spectrum penicillin. Macrolides were the most common in Austria,
Finland, Germany, and Italy, phenoxymethylpenicillin in Denmark and
Sweden, and cephalosporins in Greece.
The report says: "It seems unlikely that these large differences
between countries reflect differences in the morbidity from bacterial
infections and other explanations must be sought."
It adds, "All countries have an important role to play in ensuring that
validated national and regional data on antibiotic prescribing and sales
are made publicly available. Such data are needed in order to evaluate
the impact of antibiotic prescribing on resistance, morbidity,
complications and mortality."
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