Table 4.

Quantities (95% confidence interval) of paracetamol and salicylates sold to pharmacies and other retail outlets in the United Kingdom for sales over the counter before and after the change in law^*

Drug	Penultimate 12 months before change	12 months after change	Difference (95% CI)	% change	P value
Paracetamol:
Mean No of tablets per packet sold	32.6 (26.1 to 39.1)	24.2 (23.5 to 24.9)	−8.4 (−14.6 to −2.2)	−26	0.01
No of packets (millions)	280 (1 210 to 1 351)	1 614 (1 402 to 1 825)	333 (124 to 543)	26	0.003
No of tablets (millions)	42 169 (33 394 to 50 945)	38 986 (33 974 to 44 000)	−3 182 (−6 340 to 12 705)	−8	0.5
Paracetamol compounds:
Mean No of tablets per packet sold	39.5 (31.6 to 47.4)	30.1 (29.5 to 30.6)	−9.4 (−16.8 to −1.9)	−24	0.02
No of packets (millions)	2 032 (1 895 to 2 169)	1 502 (1 422 to 1 581)	−530 (−680 to −381)	−26	<0.0001
No of tablets (millions)	81 265 (64 073 to 98 456)	45 110 (43 049 to 47 172)	−36 155 (−52 469 to −19 840)	−44	0.0001
Salicylates:
Mean No of tablets per packet sold	56.5 (45.2 to 67.9)	26.1 (25.5 to 26.6)	−30.5 (−41.2 to−19.8)	−54	<0.0001
No of packets (millions)	952 (878 to 1 026)	647 (575 to 720)	−304 (−402 to −207)	−32	<0.0001
No of tablets (millions)	54 736 (43 084 to 66 388)	16 901 (14 915 to 18 887)	−37 835 (−48 972 to −26 698)	−69	<0.0001
Salicylate compounds:
Mean No of tablets per packet sold	29.2 (23.1 to 35.2)	13.1 (12.3 to 13.8)	−16.1 (−21.8 to −10.3)	−55	<0.0001
No of packets (millions)	335 (316 to 354)	484 (139 to 396)	150 (64 to 235)	−45	0.001
No of tablets (millions)	9 610 (7 559 to 11 662)	6 233 (5 332 to 7 135)	−3 377 (−5 488 to −1 266)	−35	0.003
Paracetamol and salicylate compounds:
Mean No of tablets per packet sold	61.0 (48.7 to 73.2)	15.3 (14.8 to 15.7)	−45.7 (−57.2 to −34.2)	−75	<0.0001
No of packets (millions)	262 (245 to 280)	1 075 (877 to 1 273)	812 (625 to 999)	310	<0.0001
No of tablets (millions)	15 699 (12 434 to 18 964)	16 292 (13 503 to 19 080)	592 (−3 453 to 4 638)	4	0.8

^*16 September 1998.