Variations in antibiotic prescribing and consultation rates for acute respiratory infection in UK general practices 1995–2000

Mark Ashworth; Judith Charlton; Karen Ballard; Radoslav Latinovic; Martin Gulliford

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Table 1

Practice-specific antibiotic and consultation data: crude and standardised values for 108 general practices in 1997.

		Distribution of practice specific values

		Lowest practice	25th centile	Median practice	75th centile	Highest practice	Correlation coefficient^a	P-value
All respiratory infections	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	45	72	78	86	98
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	125	319	388	517	1110	0.414	<0.001
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	58	93	102	110	126
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	31	80	95	127	261
Ear infection	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	46	80	87	93	100
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	1	23	33	51	100	0.418	<0.001
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	55	93	100	107	115
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	4	63	87	130	238
Sinus infection	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	46	89	92	95	100
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	0	13	22	32	51	0.165	0.090
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	52	96	100	104	109
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	0	54	89	133	323
Sore throat	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	15	62	76	85	99
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	4	36	56	78	331	0.386	<0.001
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	20	81	100	111	131
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	6	62	90	125	556
Tonsillitis	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	31	86	91	94	100
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	1	19	27	39	114	0.264	0.006
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	35	96	101	105	111
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	2	62	84	127	307
Upper respiratory tract infection — site not specified	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	2	44	65	86	100
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	4	52	90	157	931	0.444	<0.001
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	3	67	97	127	157
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	3	46	81	140	687
Common cold	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	0	7	13	25	84
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	0	4	8	16	106	0.339	<0.001
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	0	33	55	117	378
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	0	39	72	132	869
Influenza	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	0	14	33	61	97
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	0	4	10	15	457	0.221	0.022
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	0	31	67	126	210
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	0	32	72	110	3383
Laryngitis	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	6	50	67	82	100
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	0	3	5	7	19	0.073	0.467
	Standardised prescribing ratio^b (%)	12	80	109	127	199
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	0	50	88	133	378
Tracheitis/bronchitis	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	52	78	88	93	100^c
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	0	9	17	35	237	0.267	0.006
	Standardised prescribing ratio^c (%)	58	88	99	105	145
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	0	31	61	125	904
Chest infection	Prescriptions per 100 consultations (n)	32	81	88	92	100^d
	Consultations per 1000 registered patients (n)	1	18	44	79	528	0.340	<0.001
	Standardised prescribing ratio (%)	36	92	99	103	133
	Standardised consultation ratio (%)	2	31	74	125	951

↵a Correlation coefficient for association of SCR with SPR.
↵b Based on 102 practices with non-zero consultations.
↵c Based on 107 practices with non-zero consultations.
↵d Figure capped at 100%; actual figures appear to exceed 100% because of double counting when both a penicillin and non-penicillin antibiotic were prescribed. SCR = sex-standardised consultation ratio. SPR = standardised prescription ratio.

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Table 2

Changes in the proportion of consultations for acute respiratory infections resulting in a prescription (mean SPR) and changes in consultation rate (mean SCR) between 1995 and 2000.