Growth in the use of antibiotics in the community in England and Scotland in 1980-93: Table 1

Abstract

In 1989 the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemo-therapy set up a working party on the use of antibiotics, including a working group that was asked to identify sources of data about prescribing in general practice. The aim was to identify potential sources of data, analyse the available data, and make recommendations about further investigation. Data about prescribing were obtained from the prescription pricing authorities in England and Scotland. In England complete data about prescriptions were available from 1980, whereas in Scotland data available before 1991 were only a 1% sample of all prescriptions. For statistical analysis the annual growth rate in prescribing in England was calculated from the following …