Influence of prescription patterns in general practice on anti-microbial resistance in Norway.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The global pandemic of antibiotic resistance is causing considerable concern, and a major reason for the growing world-wide resistance problem is the overuse of anti-infective drugs, especially the use of broad spectrum antibiotics. This is still a relatively minor problem in most of the Nordic countries where the consumption of antibiotics is less than half of that reported from southern Europe and the United States of America (USA). AIM: To describe the resistance pattern among common respiratory tract pathogens in Norwegian general practice, the national consumption of antibiotics, and GPs' prescription patterns for respiratory tract infections. To offer some suggestions as to why Norway has maintained a favourable situation regarding resistant microbes during the past 10 years. METHODS: An analysis of the prescription patterns in Norwegian general practice. RESULTS: There is a low total prescription volume of antibiotics compared with other countries. Penicillin V is the most commonly used antibiotic for the most common airway diseases in general practice in Norway. CONCLUSION: Although there is a low prevalence of antibiotic resistance in Norway, there is still a great potential for reducing the unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for the most common respiratory illnesses.