TPP Alberta’s 2020 Antibiotic Atlas is now available

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Last year, close to two million oral antibiotic prescriptions were dispensed to 1.1 million unique patients­. These numbers show much lower utilization than in previous years—in part, reflecting the impact of COVID-19.

Of more than 17,000 unique prescribers, physicians prescribed 79 per cent of all oral antibiotic prescriptions. Amoxicillin was the most commonly prescribed agent. The majority of patients were dispensed antibiotics from one or two unique prescribers in a year. Over 10 per cent of patients were dispensed three or more antibiotics in a year.  Urban and rural analyses showed suburban areas have the lowest consumption rate of antibiotics.

For details and additional analyses, refer to the 2020 TPP Alberta Antibiotic Atlas.

Also, new to the 2020 TPP Alberta Antibiotic Atlas release:

• An executive summary section;
• The effect of COVID-19 on prescribing trends;
• A comparison of rates by socio-economic status;
• An analysis of urban and rural status;
• An expanded exploration of trends for the top five geographic areas with the highest rates;
• An investigation of drug form and route;
• An exploration of dosage by specialty group; and
• The inclusion of population size in the rates maps

Questions? Email TPP.Info@cpsa.ab.ca.