Table 2 Details on drugs prescribed
| Â | Year of attendance | Â | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | Â |
Mean number of drugs | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | Â |
Number of drug items per prescription | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 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 | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 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 | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 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 | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 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 | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
 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% |  |