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Table 2 Details on drugs prescribed

From: Patient presentation and physician management of upper respiratory tract infections: a retrospective review of over 5 million primary clinic consultations in Hong Kong

 

Year of attendance

 
 

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

 

Mean number of drugs

3.1

3.1

3.2

3.2

3.2

3.2

 

Number of drug items per prescription

       

 0

2.7%

2.7%

2.3%

1.3%

1.3%

1.1%

 

 1

5.7%

5.5%

5.1%

5.1%

5.5%

5.0%

 

 2

21.2%

20.4%

19.6%

19.7%

19.8%

18.3%

 

 3

34.6%

33.8%

33.3%

33.0%

32.4%

32.1%

 

 4

27.8%

28.5%

29.7%

30.9%

31.0%

33.0%

 

 >4

8.1%

9.2%

10.0%

10.0%

10.0%

10.5%

 

Proportion of prescriptions containing

   

 Current evidence

Analgesics

       

 Paracetamol

58.3%

60.1%

59.8%

59.1%

58.7%

58.9%

 May reduce fever

 NSAIDs

3.0%

3.6%

4.2%

4.3%

4.5%

4.9%

 May reduce pain

 COX-II inhibitors

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

 No evidence

 Antibiotics

8.1%

8.1%

6.8%

4.9%

4.4%

5.1%

 

Antihistamines

       

 Sedating

81.1%

80.1%

82.3%

82.4%

80.8%

79.9%

 Ineffective

 Non-sedating

0.5%

0.3%

0.3%

0.3%

0.6%

1.2%

 

Cough syrup

       

 Expectorant

36.8%

35.6%

36.3%

36.3%

34.0%

33.8%

 Not recommended in children

 Codeine

7.1%

6.9%

6.7%

6.5%

6.6%

6.3%

 Limited evidence

 Mucolytic

20.9%

22.2%

23.0%

24.0%

24.0%

25.0%

 May reduce symptoms

 Oral α-agonist

0.6%

0.4%

0.3%

0.2%

0.2%

0.2%

 Modest effect in adults

 Oral β-agonist

4.4%

4.7%

4.2%

4.1%

3.7%

4.1%

 No evidence

 Theophylline

1.1%

1.0%

1.0%

0.9%

0.8%

0.9%

 No evidence

Others

       

 Throat lozenges

34.7%

34.9%

35.6%

37.5%

39.9%

40.4%

 No evidence

 Lysozyme

10.6%

11.8%

13.8%

14.5%

14.9%

15.6%

 No evidence

 Neozep

0.6%

0.3%

0.3%

0.2%

0.0%

0.1%

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