Table 4.

Ten most frequently prescribed medicines (n = 16,067)

Rank	Medicine	Frequency	Percentage in all medicines	Whether or not EML	Whether or not TCPM
1	Aspirin (low dose)	739	4.6%	Yes	No
2	Ganmaoqingre (mainly for common cold)	517	3.2%	Yes	Yes
3	Nifedipine	502	3.1%	Yes	No
4	Cefuroxime	422	2.6%	Yes	No
5	Amlodipine	410	2.6%	Yes	No
6	Acarbose	302	1.9%	Yes	No
7	Metformin	296	1.8%	Yes	No
8	Levofloxacin	278	1.7%	Yes	No
9	Ambroxol	271	1.7%	Yes	No
10	Qingkailing (mainly for common cold)	258	1.6%	Yes	Yes

Abbreviation: EML Essential medicine list, TCPM Traditional Chinese patent medicine