ArticleCMAJ open
Interprovincial variation in antibiotic use in Canada, 2019: a retrospective cross-sectional study.
Article in CMAJ open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Spillover From an Intervention on Antibiotic Prescribing for Family Physicians: A Post Hoc Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Outpatient Antibiotic Dispensing Trends Across Canadian Provinces, 2012-2022: A Population-Based Descriptive Study.Cureus · 2026Article
- Penicillin allergies and community antibiotic prescriptions: A secondary analysis of prescribing choices in six family medicine clinics in southern Ontario, 2018-2019.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2026Article
- Advancing Methods to Study Clinical Variation in Healthcare.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Review
- National retrospective study of regional prescriber-specific variation in community antibiotic prescribing Canada, 2019-2023.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Sex-based differences in penicillin allergy labeling among adults in a Canadian ambulatory urgent medicine clinic: a cross-sectional study.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026Article
- Longitudinal monitoring of sewershed resistomes in socioeconomically diverse urban neighborhoods.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- National and interprovincial prescribing patterns of JAK-inhibitors in Canada: a repeated cross-sectional analysis.Clinical rheumatology · 2024Article
- Mapping Worldwide Antibiotic Use in Dental Practices: A Scoping Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Decreases and Pronounced Geographic Variability in Antibiotic Prescribing in Medicaid.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Trends in diabetes medication prescribing from 2018 to 2021: A cross-sectional analysis.PloS one · 2024Article
- Impact analysis of infant antibiotic exposure on the burden of asthma: a simulation modeling study.Frontiers in allergy · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGeographic trends in antibiotic prescribing show regional variation in antibiotic overuse and antimicrobial resistance, posing a threat to global health care systems. This study's objective was to examine interprovincial variation in outpatient antibiotic dispensing in Canada in 2019.
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study of antibiotic prescriptions dispensed in Canadian provinces in 2019, leveraging the IQVIA Geographic Prescription Monitor database. We report annual rates of overall antibiotic dispensing, broad-spectrum antibiotic dispensing and age-specific antibiotic dispensing as prescriptions per 1000 population in each province and nationally.
resultsA total of 23 406 640 antibiotic prescriptions were dispensed nationally in 2019, at a rate of 627.3 prescriptions per 1000 population. Overall antibiotic dispensing rates in Newfoundland and Labrador (920.5 prescriptions per 1000 population) and Saskatchewan (713.7 prescriptions per 1000 population) significantly exceeded the national rate, whereas the rate in British Columbia (543.3 prescriptions per 1000 population) was significantly below the national rate. We observed additional variation when provincial rates of antibiotic dispensing were stratified by drug class and age group.
interpretationWe identified interprovincial variation in antibiotic use in Canadian provinces in 2019. These findings highlight the need for provincial targets for antibiotic use to reduce overuse and antimicrobial resistance.
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