Associations between declining antibiotic use in primary care in Scotland and hospitalization with infection and patient satisfaction: longitudinal population study

There was a 15% reduction in the overall per patient rates of antibiotic prescribing across all general practices in Scotland, between 2012 and 2018. During the same period there was an 8.5% increase in the overall rate of admission to hospital with infection. However, the increase in the rate of admission to hospital with an infection appeared to be unrelated to the reduction in antibiotic prescribing, as it occurred equally in patients who attended practices where the rate of antibiotic prescribing rose, fell by a minor amount, fell by a modest amount, or fell by a large amount.