Year of attendance | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | ||
Mean number of drugs | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | |
Number of drug items per prescription | |||||||
0 | 2.7% | 2.7% | 2.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.1% | |
1 | 5.7% | 5.5% | 5.1% | 5.1% | 5.5% | 5.0% | |
2 | 21.2% | 20.4% | 19.6% | 19.7% | 19.8% | 18.3% | |
3 | 34.6% | 33.8% | 33.3% | 33.0% | 32.4% | 32.1% | |
4 | 27.8% | 28.5% | 29.7% | 30.9% | 31.0% | 33.0% | |
>4 | 8.1% | 9.2% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.0% | 10.5% | |
Proportion of prescriptions containing | Current evidence | ||||||
Analgesics | |||||||
Paracetamol | 58.3% | 60.1% | 59.8% | 59.1% | 58.7% | 58.9% | May reduce fever |
NSAIDs | 3.0% | 3.6% | 4.2% | 4.3% | 4.5% | 4.9% | May reduce pain |
COX-II inhibitors | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | No evidence |
Antibiotics | 8.1% | 8.1% | 6.8% | 4.9% | 4.4% | 5.1% | |
Antihistamines | |||||||
Sedating | 81.1% | 80.1% | 82.3% | 82.4% | 80.8% | 79.9% | Ineffective |
Non-sedating | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 1.2% | |
Cough syrup | |||||||
Expectorant | 36.8% | 35.6% | 36.3% | 36.3% | 34.0% | 33.8% | Not recommended in children |
Codeine | 7.1% | 6.9% | 6.7% | 6.5% | 6.6% | 6.3% | Limited evidence |
Mucolytic | 20.9% | 22.2% | 23.0% | 24.0% | 24.0% | 25.0% | May reduce symptoms |
Oral α-agonist | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | Modest effect in adults |
Oral β-agonist | 4.4% | 4.7% | 4.2% | 4.1% | 3.7% | 4.1% | No evidence |
Theophylline | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 0.9% | No evidence |
Others | |||||||
Throat lozenges | 34.7% | 34.9% | 35.6% | 37.5% | 39.9% | 40.4% | No evidence |
Lysozyme | 10.6% | 11.8% | 13.8% | 14.5% | 14.9% | 15.6% | No evidence |
Neozep | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.1% |