Table 2.

Respiratory tract infection episode rates and corresponding antibiotic prescription rates for the six most common RTI diagnoses and the corresponding symptoms in adult patients in Norwegian general practice 2012–2019

	Study mean	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	Mean annual changea (95% CI)
All RTIs
Episode rateb	284	312	285	266	284	284	281	280	277	−2.6 (−7.1 to 1.9)
Antibiotic prescription ratec	29	37	34	33	30	28	25	23	23	−2.1 (−2.4 to −1.7)d
PcV proportion (%)e	47	40	44	45	46	48	51	52	53	1.8 (1.5 to 2.1)d
Diagnosis-specific ICPC-2 codes
Episode rate	193	218	197	179	193	193	191	192	187	−2.6 (−6.4 to 1.3)
Antibiotic prescription rate	37	45	42	42	38	36	33	30	31	−2.3 (−2.8 to −1.9)d
PcV proportion (%)	48	42	46	46	47	50	53	54	55	1.8 (1.5 to 2.2)d
Symptom-related ICPC-2 codes
Episode rate	90	93	87	87	91	91	90	88	91	−0.1 (−0.9 to 0.8)
Antibiotic prescription rate	12	17	14	13	12	11	9	9	8	−1.2 (−1.4 to −1.0)d
PcV proportion (%)	35	30	33	35	35	36	37	38	39	1.2 (0.9 to 1.4)d
URTI (R74)
Episode rate	65	63	59	58	63	65	70	71	75	2.2 (1.1 to 3.3)d
Antibiotic prescription rate	18	24	22	21	19	17	15	14	14	−1.6 (−1.9 to −1.3)d
PcV proportion (%)	56	50	54	54	55	57	60	62	62	1.7 (1.3 to 2.1)d
Sinusitis (R75)
Episode rate	26	32	30	27	27	25	24	22	22	−1.5 (−1.7 to −1.2)d
Antibiotic prescription rate	57	65	64	61	59	55	51	49	49	−2.7 (−3.1 to −2.3)d
PcV proportion (%)	50	46	47	48	49	51	55	56	57	1.7 (1.3 to 2.2)d
Sinus symptoms (R09)
Episode rate	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	5	6	0.2 (0.1 to 0.3)d
Antibiotic prescription rate	24	32	31	28	27	24	20	19	19	−2.1 (−2.5 to −1.8)d
PcV proportion (%)	44	41	42	42	43	43	46	47	48	1.0 (0.7 to 1.4)d
Tonsillitis (R72 + R76)
Episode rate	12	15	13	13	12	12	12	11	11	−0.5 (−0.7 to −0.3)d
Antibiotic prescription rate	76	76	76	76	77	76	75	74	76	−0.2 (−0.4 to 0.0)
PcV proportion (%)	83	80	81	81	82	84	86	86	87	1.1 (0.9 to 1.3)d
Throat symptoms (R21)
Episode rate	15	16	15	15	15	15	15	14	15	−0.1 (−0.2 to 0.1)
Antibiotic prescription rate	15	20	19	18	17	15	13	12	11	−1.3 (−1.5 to −1.2)d
PcV proportion (%)	66	64	64	66	66	67	69	69	70	0.8 (0.7 to 1.0)d
Acute bronchitis (R78)
Episode rate	27	31	26	26	30	30	28	24	22	−0.8 (−1.8 to 0.2)
Antibiotic prescription rate	44	57	53	50	45	41	36	34	36	−3.4 (−4.1 to −2.6)d
PcV proportion (%)	25	20	23	24	25	27	30	30	29	1.5 (1.0 to 2.0)d
Pneumonia (R81)
Episode rate	21	29	23	21	22	21	21	19	17	−1.2 (−1.9 to −0.5)d
Antibiotic prescription rate	66	68	66	67	67	67	66	64	65	−0.4 (−0.6 to −0.1)d
PcV proportion (%)	40	34	38	38	40	42	44	45	45	1.6 (1.1 to 2.0)d
Cough (R05)
Episode rate	37	41	37	35	37	37	37	35	34	−0.6 (−1.2 to 0.0)
Antibiotic prescription rate	13	20	16	15	14	12	10	9	9	−1.5 (−1.8 to −1.2)d
PcV proportion (%)	20	16	19	19	20	21	23	24	24	1.1 (0.9 to 1.3)d
Influenza (R80)
Episode rate	19	19	22	13	20	20	18	26	16	0.2 (−1.3 to 1.7)
Antibiotic prescription rate	7	9	8	8	7	7	6	5	5	−0.6 (−0.7 to −0.5)d
PcV proportion (%)	41	35	39	39	39	43	43	45	44	1.2 (0.7 to 1.7)d

^aMean annual change represents coefficient from linear regression with 95% CI.

^bEpisode rate: episodes per 1000 inhabitants adjusted for age and sex.

^cAntibiotic prescription rate: proportion of episodes receiving ≥1 prescription within 7 days.

^d P value <0.05.

^ePcV proportion (%): phenoxymethylpenicillin as proportion of all first prescriptions.