Drug Utilization Pattern of Antibiotics: The Role of Age, Sex and Municipalities in Determining Variation

Figures & data

Figure 1 Antibiotic prevalence rates by age and sex in Campania, 2016.

Table 1 Prevalence Rates of Antibiotic Prescription Stratified by Drug Classes and Patients’ Characteristics

	Penicillins N=1,582,549 (57.8%)	Cephalosporins N=833,889 (30.5%)	Macrolides N=765,284 (27.9%)	Fluoroquinolones N=736,308 (26.9%)	Others* N=417,655 (15.3%)	Overall Treated Patients N=2,738,118
Gender
F	862,985 (57.4%)	451,770 (30.0%)	422,431 (28.1%)	411,307 (27.4%)	301,722 (20.1%)	1,503,703
M	719,564 (58.3%)	382,119 (31.0%)	343,053 (27.8%)	325,001 (26.3%)	115,933 (9.4%)	1,234,415
Age Groups
Children
0–6	127,138 (67.9%)	72,752 (38.9%)	78,138 (41.7%)	575 (0.3%)	6823 (3.6%)	187,176
7–14	118,214 (58.2%)	70,278 (34.6%)	69,628 (34.3%)	2143 (1.1%)	1,019 (5.0%)	20,296
Adults
15–24	137,433 (54.4%)	66,179 (26.2%)	73,914 (29.3%)	32,475 (12.9%)	30,838 (12.2%)	252,522
25–34	148,174 (56.3%)	65,219 (24.8%)	71,196 (27.1%)	53,608 (20.4%)	38,668 (14.7%)	263,089
35–44	189,157 (57.8%)	85,303 (26.0%)	88,258 (27.0%)	80,213 (24.5%)	51,113 (15.6%)	327,471
45–54	249,173 (59.8%)	109,563 (26.3%)	109,656 (26.3%)	118,767 (28.5%)	66,721 (16.0%)	416,694
55–64	241,738 (60.4%)	114,034 (28.5%)	105,252 (26.3%)	135,817 (33.9%)	66,664 (16.6%)	400,461
Older Adults
65–74	210,445 (58.3%)	118,85 (32.9%)	93,295 (25.8%)	153,245 (42.5%)	70,959 (19.7%)	360,94
75–84	120,187 (50.8%)	90,751 (38.4%)	56,058 (23.7%)	114,27 (48.3%)	52,544 (22.2%)	236,376
85≥	40,89 (45.2%)	40,96 (45.3%)	19,889 (22.0%)	45,195 (50.0%)	23,135 (25.6%)	90,429

Notes: Drug classes were not mutually exclusive. Prevalence rates were calculated by dividing the number of patients receiving almost one prescription of a specific drug class by the total of patients treated with antibiotics. *Others: J01AA Tetracyclines, J01BA Amphenicols, J01EE combinations of Sulfonamides and Trimethoprim, Incl. derivatives, J01FF Lincosamides, J01GB other Aminoglycosides, J01MB other Quinolones, J01XA Glycopeptide Antibacterials, J01XD Imidazole derivatives, J01XE Nitrofuran derivatives, J01XX other antibacterials.

Figure 2 (A) Antibiotic prevalence rates (%) in children at a municipality level in Campania. (B) Antibiotic prevalence rates (%) in adults at a municipality level in Campania. (C) Antibiotic prevalence rates (%) in older adults ≥65 years at a municipality level in Campania.

Table 2 Multivariate Regression Analysis of Antibiotic Prescription

Characteristics	Penicillins		Cephalosporins		Fluoroquinolones		Macrolides
	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	p-value	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	p-value	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	p-value	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	p-value
Gender
Female	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
Male	1.039 (1.034–1.044)	<0.001*	1.034 (1.029–1.040)	<0.001*	1.024 (1.018–1.029)	<0.001*	0.961 (0.956–0.966)	<0.001*
Age Groups
Children	1.220 (1.211–1.229)	<0.001*	0.021 (0.020–0.021)	<0.001*	1.531 (1.520–1.543)	<0.001*	1.655 (1.643–1.667)	<0.001*
Adults	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference
Older adults	0.826 (0.821–0.831)	<0.001*	2.477 (2.463–2.492)	<0.001*	1.569 (1.560–1.579)	<0.001*	0.883 (0.877–0.889)	<0.001*
Community
Rural	Reference		Reference		Reference		Reference	<0.001*
Urban	1.094 (1.085–1.102)	<0.001*	1.084 (1.074–1.093)	<0.001*	1.084 (1.074–1.094)	<0.001*	0.978 (0.969–0.987)	<0.001*

Note: *p-value less of 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.