Table 2.
Antibiotics prescribed for acute bronchitis at primary healthcare facilities in China, by urban–rural location and antibiotic type.
| Antibiotic subgroup/substance | Prescription rate (weighted, %)a | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Urban | Rural | p | |
| Single-antibiotic prescriptions | 88.0 | 92.3 | 84.3 | *** |
| Narrow spectrum | 8.5 | 3.2 | 13.5 | *** |
| First-generation cephalosporins | 4.9 | 1.1 | 8.7 | *** |
| Narrow-spectrum penicillins | 3.1 | 2.0 | 4.1 | *** |
| Nitroimidazoles | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.7 | *** |
| Broad-spectrum | 91.5 | 96.8 | 86.5 | *** |
| Second-generation cephalosporins | 22.4 | 31.8 | 13.3 | * |
| Third-generation cephalosporins | 21.4 | 19.6 | 23.1 | *** |
| Macrolides | 19.6 | 19.8 | 19.4 | *** |
| Broad-spectrum penicillins | 14.7 | 12.4 | 16.9 | *** |
| Quinolones | 7.2 | 7.5 | 7.0 | *** |
| Lincosamides | 5.0 | 5.3 | 4.6 | *** |
| Aminoglycosides | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.4 | *** |
| Other | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | *** |
| Multi-antibiotic prescriptions | 12.0 | 7.7 | 15.7 | *** |
| Third-generation cephalosporins+quinolones | 20.0 | 10.7 | 24.0 | *** |
| Second-generation cephalosporins+quinolones | 11.5 | 18.2 | 8.5 | *** |
| Broad-spectrum penicillins+quinolones | 8.5 | 3.5 | 10.7 | ** |
| Macrolides+quinolones | 7.2 | 18.9 | 2.1 | *** |
| Macrolides+lincosamides | 6.2 | 18.2 | 0.9 | *** |
| Third-generation cephalosporins+broad-spectrum penicillins | 4.6 | 0.0 | 6.7 | *** |
| Second-generation cephalosporins duplications | 4.4 | 6.2 | 3.6 | |
| Second-generation+third-generation cephalosporins | 4.3 | 0.0 | 6.2 | *** |
| Other | 33.3 | 24.2 | 37.3 | ** |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | |
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
aFor single-antibiotic prescriptions or multi-antibiotic prescriptions, the numerators of prescription rates were the weighted number of prescriptions that containing one or multiple antibiotics, and the denominator was total weighted number of antibiotic prescriptions. For narrow spectrum and broad-spectrum antibiotics, the numerator was the weighted number of prescriptions that contained each specific antibiotic and the denominator was the weighted number of prescriptions that contained only one antibiotic. For multi-antibiotic prescriptions, the numerator was the weighted number of prescriptions that contained each specific antibiotic combination and the denominator was the weighted number of prescriptions that contained multiple antibiotics.