JAC Advance Access originally published online on February 28, 2007
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2007 59(5):971-976; doi:10.1093/jac/dkm032
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Age- and gender-specific antibacterial prescribing in Norway
1 Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Marcus Thranes gate 6, NO-0403 Oslo, Norway 2 Department of Pharmacotherapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, PO Box 1065 Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway 3 Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Received 7 November 2006; returned 11 December 2006; revised 19 January 2007; accepted 23 January 2007
* Corresponding author. E-mail: hegesbl{at}ulrik.uio.no
Objectives: To describe the use of antibacterials among outpatients in Norway and to explore patterns of age- and gender-specific use.
Methods: Data were extracted from the Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD), a complete register of all dispensed prescriptions in Norway, in the period 1 July 2005–30 June 2006. NorPD contains data at an individual level. We extracted patients who had received an antibacterial for systemic use. Results were shown as population prevalences for the total population.
Results: A total of 1.1 million persons had at least one prescription for an antibacterial dispensed. The mean population prevalence of antibacterial use was 24% in total (28% and 19% for women and men, respectively). Population prevalence changed markedly between different age groups and between genders. Children (<5 years) and older elderly people (
75 years) were high consumers. Females, in general, used more than males. Use by the different subgroups of antibacterials differed between gender and between different age groups. ß-Lactamase-sensitive penicillins was the most prevalent antibacterial group in all age groups except for women 75 years, for whom penicillins with extended spectrum were the most frequently used.
Individuals defined as high users (using more than 60 DDDs/year) represented 3% of the population who were using antibacterials. These patients were older and used co-medication more often than other users of antibacterials.
Conclusions: Over 1 year, a quarter of the total population used antibacterials. Patterns of use and types of drugs used differed markedly between genders and between different age groups.
Keywords: antibiotic use , population prevalence , DDD , prescriptions , antibacterials