Outpatient Antibiotic Prescriptions — United States, 2015

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Healthcare providers prescribed 269.4 million antibiotic prescriptions—equivalent to 838 antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 persons.

Print only version: Outpatient Antibiotic Prescriptions — United States, 2015  [PDF – 366 KB]

Citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outpatient antibiotic prescriptions — United States, 2015.

Data Sources:

Systemic oral antibiotics were extracted from the QuintilesIMS Xponent database. QuintilesIMS captured an estimated 88% of outpatient prescriptions for any medication nationally, reconciled them to wholesale deliveries, and projected to 100% coverage. These data represent all outpatient antibiotic prescriptions from community pharmacies from all payers, but exclude federal facilities. Provider specialties are taken from the American Medical Association (AMA) self-designated practice specialties and categorized into one of 17 groups. Population data were obtained from the U.S. Census bridging files.

References

Hicks, L.A., et al., US Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing Variation According to Geography, Patient Population, and Provider Specialty in 2011. Clin Infect Dis, 2015. 60(9): p. 1308-16.

Table 1. Oral antibiotic prescriptions by age, sex and region—United States, 2015

Table 1a. Oral antibiotic prescriptions by age, sex and region—United States, 2015
Age group NUMBER OF ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS (MILLIONS) ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS PER 1,000 PERSONS, RATE
<20 yearsa 64.7 778
≥20 yearsa 203.3 850
Table 1b. Oral antibiotic prescriptions by age, sex and region—United States, 2015
Sex NUMBER OF ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS (MILLIONS) ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS PER 1,000 PERSONS, RATE
Femalea 164.0 1,005
Malea 104.9 663
Table 1c. Oral antibiotic prescriptions by age, sex and region—United States, 2015
Region NUMBER OF ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS (MILLIONS) ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS PER 1,000 PERSONS, RATE
Northeastb 48.8 867
Midwestb 61.0 898
Southb 111.5 920
Westb 48.1 632

aTotals may not add to all oral prescriptions (269.4 million) due to missing data
bTotals may not add to all oral prescriptions (269.4 million) due to rounding.

Table 2. Top oral antibiotic classes and agents prescribed—United States, 2015

Table 2a. Top oral antibiotic classes and agents prescribed—United States, 2015
ANTIBIOTIC CLASS NUMBER OF ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS (MILLIONS) ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS PER 1,000 PERSONS, RATE
Penicillins 61.6 192
Macrolides 49.4 154
Cephalosporins 36.3 113
Fluoroquinolones 32.5 101
Beta-lactams, increased activity 25.3 79
Table 2b. Top oral antibiotic classes and agents prescribed—United States, 2015
ANTIBIOTIC AGENT NUMBER OF ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS (MILLIONS) ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS PER 1,000 PERSONS, RATE
Amoxicillin 54.8 171
Azithromycin 46.2 144
Amoxicillin/clavulanic acid 25.3 79
Cephalexin 21.4 67
Ciprofloxacin 20.3 63

Table 3. Oral antibiotic prescribing by provider specialty — United States, 2015

Table 3. Oral antibiotic prescribing by provider specialty — United States, 2015
PROVIDER SPECIALTY NUMBER OF ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS (MILLIONS) ANTIBIOTIC PRESCRIPTIONS PER PROVIDER, RATE
Primary Care Physicians 110.8 466
Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners 62.9 363
Surgical Specialties 19.5 219
Dentistry 25.1 205
Emergency Medicine 14.8 457
Dermatology 7.1 628
Obstetrics/Gynecology 6.3 167
Other 22.9 110
All Providers 269.4 295

Figure 1. Antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 persons by state (sextiles) for all ages — United States, 2015.

Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing Map per 1,000 populations by State Each year 269.4 antibiotic prescriptions are written in the United States. Enough to give 4 of every 5 people one prescription. Tan states are lowest prescribing states ranging from 511-668 outpatient prescriptions per 1,000 Yellow states prescribe between 696-759 outpatient prescriptions per 1,000 Orange states prescribe between 769-845 outpatient prescriptions per 1,000 Burnt orange states prescribe between 864-915 outpatient prescriptions per 1,000 Red states prescribe between 918-1,016 outpatient prescriptions per 1,000 Maroon states prescribe the most between 1018-1319 outpatient prescriptions per 1,000.

This project was made possible through a partnership with the CDC Foundation. Support for this project was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 persons by state (sextiles) for all ages — United States, 2015.
State Number of prescriptions per 1000 persons, Rate
Alabama        1,149
Alaska            511
Arizona            769
Arkansas        1,154
California            590
Colorado            624
Connecticut            843
Delaware            915
District Of Columbia            979
Florida            706
Georgia            830
Hawaii            640
Idaho            720
Illinois            845
Indiana            964
Iowa        1,018
Kansas        1,016
Kentucky        1,256
Louisiana        1,174
Maine            732
Maryland            794
Massachusetts            759
Michigan            918
Minnesota            696
Mississippi        1,254
Missouri            944
Montana            662
Nebraska        1,072
Nevada            733
New Hampshire            728
New Jersey            903
New Mexico            724
New York            898
North Carolina            872
North Dakota            864
Ohio            964
Oklahoma            966
Oregon            582
Pennsylvania            895
Rhode Island            888
South Carolina            936
South Dakota            893
Tennessee        1,165
Texas            895
Utah            779
Vermont            668
Virginia            804
Washington            610
West Virginia        1,319
Wisconsin            745
Wyoming            789
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