Table 2.

Total Visit Rate, and Antibiotic Rates for All Diagnoses Followed by Visit Rate and Antibiotic Rates for Each Diagnostic Category per 1.000 U.S. Adults ≥18 y Old, 1995–2002

Rates per 1,000 Adults	All Outpatient Visits
	1995 to 1996	1997 to 1998	1999 to 2000	2001 to 2002	Percent change1995–1996 to 2001–2002
Total visits	1692.7	1889.0	1880.2	1985.7	+17.3
Antibiotics prescribed	302.4	307.7	294.1	304.1	+0.6
Acute respiratory infections—antibiotics rarely indicated
Visits	110.1	123.0	119.3	108.0	−2.0
Antibiotics prescribed	65.9	67.4	51.4	53.0	−19.6
Respiratory diagnoses—antibiotics often indicated
Visits	127.8	135.0	133.7	129.0	+0.9
Antibiotics prescribed	91.3	96.4	93.6	93.5	+2.4
Nonrespiratory diagnoses—antibiotics often indicated
Visits	77.3	78.4	76.0	77.7	+0.5
Antibiotics prescribed	50.7	45.7	47.8	48.5	−4.1
All other diagnoses
Visits	1377.5	1552.7	1551.2	1671.1	+21.3
Antibiotics prescribed	94.5	98.2	101.3	109.0	+15.3