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

Abstract

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 formula: growth rate (%)=(((Pn+1)-Pn))/Pnx100, where Pn is the number of prescriptions in the baseline year and Pn+1 is the number of prescriptions in the following year.