Table 2.

Associations of prescribing of antibiotics with that of other medicines, non-opioid painkillers, and benzodiazepines

Risk factorMean (SD)5thPercentile of risk factorsChange in risk factorRate of antibioticsRate of antibiotics% Increase in antibiotic for 5th–95thc
25th75th95thIQR5th–95thChange per IQR,b crude (95% CI)Change per IQR, adjusted (95% CI)Change per 5th–95th percentile,b crude (95% CI)Change per 5th–95th percentile,b adjusted (95% CI)CrudeAdjusted
Antibioticsa
NHS-DPPD576.1 (148.1)329.9486.9666.8808.7179.9478.8n/an/an/an/an/an/a
CPRD578.9 (177.4)268.0488.1688.5852.4200.4584.4n/an/an/an/an/an/a
Other medicinesa
NHS-DPPD17 631.3 (5707.8)8815.913 588.021 411.627 159.87823.618 343.9141.8 (138.3 to 145.3)117.8 (113.2 to 122.5)332.5 (324.4 to 340.7)276.3 (265.4 to 287.2)8060
CPRD16 587.3 (5923.6)6909.812 732.620 399.025 966.77666.419 056.8167.5 (152.2 to 182.9)162.8 (148.4 to 177.3)416.4 (378.3 to 454.5)404.8 (368.9 to 440.6)100100
Non-opioid painkillersa
NHS-DPPD1211.4 (544.4)462.9809.61531.32215.6721.71752.7128.5 (124.8 to 132.2)119.7 (114.5 to 124.9)312.0 (303.1 to 321.0)290.7 (278.0 to 303.4)7060
CPRD1365.7 (611.3)463.4895.01757.82344.3862.81880.9189.5 (173.0 to 206.0)189.0 (172.1 to 206.0)413.1 (377.0 to 449.1)412.1 (375.3 to 449.0)100100
Benzodiazepinesa
NHS-DPPD274.8 (162.4)79.7167.8344.3567.3176.5487.690.7 (87.0 to 94.5)62.4 (58.9 to 66.0)250.6 (240.4 to 260.9)172.4 (162.6 to 182.2)5030
CPRD325.1 (247.1)81.2180.0381.0774.9201.0693.7 (87.0 to 110.5)98.7 (81.1 to 104.4)92.7 (300.1 to 381.2)340.7 (279.8 to 360.1)320.06050
  • a Per 1000 patients per year.

  • b Change in rate of antibiotic prescribing over IQR or 5th to 95th percentile of risk factor (other medicines, painkillers, or benzodiazepines).

  • c % Increase in antibiotic for 5th–95% was calculated using Poisson model. CPRD = Clinical Practice Research Datalink. DPPD = digital practice prescribing data. n/a = not applicable. IQR = interquartile range.