Table 3.
Prescribing of antibiotic and symptom management medications for adult acute bronchitis at primary healthcare facilities in China, by urban–rural location and whether medications were included in clinical guidelines.
| Drug subgroup/substance | Prescription rate (weighted, %) |
Clinical guideline recommendationsa | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Urban | Rural | p | CN | US | UK | |
| Patients treated with antibiotics | 46.4 | 39.3 | 55.9 | *** | |||
| Penicillins, only | 11.4 | 9.1 | 14.3 | *** | √ | × | |
| Amoxicillin | 7.6 | 5.5 | 10.3 | *** | √ | ||
| Other | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.0 | × | |||
| Macrolides, only | 5.9 | 3.6 | 9.0 | *** | √ | × | |
| Clarithromycin | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | √ | |||
| Erythromycin | 2.7 | 1.3 | 4.6 | *** | √ | ||
| Other | 3.0 | 2.1 | 4.1 | *** | × | ||
| Cephalosporins, only | 19.1 | 19.3 | 18.9 | √ | × | × | |
| Fluoroquinolones, only | 3.7 | 2.2 | 5.7 | *** | √ | × | × |
| Other antibiotics, only | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | × | × | × | |
| Multiple antibiotics | 2.3 | 1.0 | 4.1 | *** | × | × | × |
| Patients treated with symptom management drugs | 65.2 | 61.7 | 70.1 | *** | |||
| Cough suppressants | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2.6 | * | √ | √ | √ |
| Expectorants | 26.8 | 22.0 | 33.3 | *** | √ | × | √ |
| Antihistamines | 8.9 | 4.7 | 14.5 | *** | √ | × | |
| First generation | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | √ | |||
| Second/third generation | 8.7 | 4.5 | 14.4 | *** | – | ||
| Combination of the 3 categories above | 2.0 | 0.8 | 3.7 | *** | √ | – | – |
| Corticosteroids | 5.7 | 5.4 | 6.1 | × | × | × | |
| Decongestants | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | – | √ | × | |
| Xanthines | 7.2 | 4.6 | 10.7 | *** | – | – | × |
| Anticholinergics | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | ** | – | – | × |
| Vitamin C | 3.7 | 2.2 | 5.7 | *** | – | – | – |
| Other western respiratory drugs | 5.8 | 4.1 | 8.0 | *** | – | – | – |
| TCM for respiratory system | 35.2 | 35.3 | 35.0 | – | – | – | |
CN China, US the United States, UK the United Kingdom.
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
a√, Recommended/recommended under certain circumstances; ×, not recommended/not recommended under certain circumstances; −, not mentioned. Detailed comparison across the national guidelines is summarized in Appendix 2.