Factors independently associated with dispensing prescribed antibiotics (multilevela logistic regression analysis at baseline)
| Dispensed prescriptions (% of prescribed prescriptions) | OR (95% CI) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 32347 (92.1) | ||
| GP factorsb | |||
| Sex | |||
| Male | 22587 (92.3) | 1 (Reference) | |
| Female | 9760 (91.7) | 1.00 (0.85 to 1.18) | 0.990 |
| Practice location | |||
| Urban | 18787 (91.5) | 1 (Reference) | |
| Rural | 13560 (92.9) | 1,21 (1.03 to 1.41) | 0.020 |
| Practice type | |||
| Group | 29747 (92.0) | 1 (Reference) | |
| Solo | 2600 (93.1) | 0.96 (0.74 to 1.25) | 0.770 |
| GP specialist | |||
| Yes | 29431 (92.2) | 1 (Reference) | |
| No | 2916 (90.6) | 0.93 (0.73 to 1.20) | 0.590 |
| Listed patients | |||
| On own list | 23910 (92.5) | 1 (Reference) | |
| On other GP’s list | 6556 (91.5) | 0.85 (0.77 to 0.94) | 0.002 |
| ‘Unlisted’ | 1881 (89.4) | 0.74 (0.63 to 0.87) | <0.001 |
| ABc prescribing rate, quintiles (%) | |||
| 11.7–23.1% (66 GPs) | 3110 (92.5) | 1 (Reference) | |
| 23.3–28.5% (69 GPs) | 5176 (90.0) | 0.75 (0.59 to 0.96) | 0.020 |
| 28.6–33.6% (64 GPs) | 5453 (91.9) | 0.85 (0.66 to 1.08) | 0.190 |
| 33.7–41.2% (65 GPs) | 7477 (93.4) | 1.01 (0.79 to 1.30) | 0.930 |
| 41.5–71.3% (64 GPs) | 11131 (92.2) | 0.88 (0.69 to 1.13) | 0.320 |
| Patient factors | |||
| Type of ARTI | |||
| URTIs and RT symptoms | 7892 (90.2) | 1 (Reference) | |
| Acute tonsillitis | 4428 (93.8) | 1.75 (1.51 to 2.03) | <0.001 |
| Acute sinusitis | 5911 (91.3) | 1.04 (0.92 to 1.17) | 0.560 |
| Acute bronchitis | 5391 (93.8) | 1.45 (1.26 to 1.66) | <0.001 |
| Pneumonia | 3604 (95.8) | 2.03 (1.69 to 2.43) | <0.001 |
| Acute otitis media and ear pain | 3179 (88.0) | 0.85 (0.74 to 0.98) | 0.028 |
| Other RTIs | 1942 (93.9) | 1.35 (1.10 to 1.67) | 0.004 |
| Sex | |||
| Male | 13304 (91.9) | 1 (Reference) | |
| Female | 19043 (92.2) | 1.05 (0.96–1.14) | 0.270 |
| Age, years | |||
| ≤6 | 4166 (89.1) | 1 (Reference) | |
| 6–12 | 2242 (91.6) | 1.18 (0.99–1.40) | 0.070 |
| 13–18 | 1778 (92.2) | 1.19 (0.97–1.45) | 0.100 |
| 19–44 | 12134 (90.8) | 1.09 (0.96–1.24) | 0.200 |
| 45–64 | 8017 (93.7) | 1.56 (1.34–1.81) | <0.001 |
| 65–79 | 3032 (96.6) | 2.74 (2.18–3.45) | <0.001 |
| ≥80 | 978 (95.3) | 1.73 (1.26–2.38) | 0.001 |
↵a Adjusted for clustering by random intercepts at GP and continuing medical education group level.
↵b The GP factors of age and patient encounters/year were non-significant and have been omitted from the table.
↵c AB = antibiotic prescribing. ARTI = acute respiratory tract infection. OR = odds ratio. RT = respiratory tract. RTI = respiratory tract infection. URTI = upper respiratory tract infection.