New research uncovers antibiotic prescription trends across England

New research by Antibiotic Research UK, the world’s first charity created to develop new antibiotics in the fight against superbugs, and high-performance analytic database company EXASOL has discovered that while the number of antibiotic prescriptions is coming down across England, GP practices in the most deprived parts of the country are prescribing 20% more and, worryingly, antibiotic prescriptions are on the increase in these deprived areas. For instance, in Clacton-on-Sea, the UK’s most deprived area, we see antibiotic prescribing rates of almost twice the national average.

Source: EXASOL using Primary Care data

Source: EXASOL using Primary Health Care data

Antibiotic Research UK and EXASOL analysed data released by the Government’s Health and Social Care Information Centre and sourced from the NHS Business Services Authority. The data runs over 5 years from August 2010 to July 2015 and contains 602 million rows of data. The data was analysed by a data scientist working for EXASOL, using its high performance in-memory analytic database. The data reveals antibiotic prescribing hotspots and interesting correlations against areas of deprivation. It also shows seasonal variation in antibiotic prescribing. The data is grouped by Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOA).

Sean Jackson, chief marketing officer, EXASOL says:

When analysing the data we are seeing a widening deprivation gap in antibiotic prescriptions. The gap between prescriptions in the 1% least and most deprived areas of England is 20%. We also see significant regional differences, for example London prescriptions are 21% lower than areas in the North.

Professor Colin Garner, chief executive of Antibiotic Research UK Says:

Londoners and the Thames Valley region have the best access to healthcare and are also on average younger and healthier than the rest of the country. However, we would not expect to see such a large variation in prescriptions around the country. If we look at the detailed heat map it shows hotspots of antibiotic prescription, more generally around areas of deprivation.

Regional Variations in Antibiotic Prescriptions (drilling down further). Source: EXASOL using Primary Health Care data

The data also highlighted seasonal variation in prescription levels with 59% more prescriptions in December than in August with no obvious reason. Professor Colin Garner of Antibiotic Research UK says:

It is true that colds and flus sometimes lead to bacterial infections due to suppressed immune systems and so we would expect a minor increase in antibiotic prescription in the winter months, however the data shows us a 59% jump in four months and this is far too high. One explanation is that patients are requesting antibiotics from their GPs for simple coughs and colds and GPs are acceding to these requests despite the advice they have been given not to prescribe antibiotics for viral conditions such as these.

Antibiotic prescribing, seasonal variations: August 2014 to July 2015. Source: EXASOL

An increased resistance by bacteria to antibiotics could change surgery as we know it today. As a consequence, new hips, knees, organ transplantation, open heart surgery and many cancer treatments will become high risk. It is estimated that there are 400,000 cases of reported antibiotic resistant infections with 25,000 deaths each year in the European Union; in the UK the figure is close to 5,000 deaths per year.

Sean Jackson, CMO, EXASOL says:

Awareness of antibiotics overuse is critical. As an analytic database provider, we firmly believe in the power of data analytics in helping unlock valuable insights that can address any problem or issue. With the right data and the right technology, you can turn any problem into a data problem and uncover information to help address it. We worked with Antibiotic Research UK to find information that is useful in their quest to address antibiotic use and find new antibiotics in the fight against the superbug. To analyse such enormous data-sets fast requires the right tool and we hope the findings help to further reduce this serious issue.