Consecutive antibiotic use in the outpatient setting: an extensive, longitudinal descriptive analysis of antibiotic dispensing data in the Netherlands

Abstract Introduction Taking consecutive antibiotic use into account is of importance to obtain insight in treatment within disease episodes, use of 2nd- and 3rd-choice antibiotics, therapy failure and/or side effects. Nevertheless, studies dealing with consecutive antibiotic use are scarce. We aimed at evaluating switch patterns in antibiotic use in the outpatient setting in the Netherlands. Methods Outpatient antibiotic dispensing data was processed to antibiotic treatment episodes consisting of single prescriptions or consecutive prescriptions (2006 to 2014). Consecutive prescriptions were... Mehr ...