Consumption of antibiotics in the community, European Union/European Economic Area, 1997–2017: data collection, management and analysis

Abstract Objectives This article introduces a series of articles on antibiotic consumption in the community between 1997 and 2017, which provide an update previous covering periods 1997–2003 1997–2009. Methods In this article, differences participating countries, ATC/DDD classification system, data collection, validation analysis current are described. Results series, 33 European countries provided valid for further analysis, while focused 30 belonging to EU or Economic Area (EEA). For both were collected accordance with WHO ATC system. While reported index 2011, employed 2019. Both antibacterials systemic use (ATC J01) expressed DDD per 1000 inhabitants day packages day. When studying day, reporting total care data, i.e. hospital sector combined, included but excluded series. used non-linear mixed models evaluate time trends consumption, allowed inclusion change-points data-driven location. addition, assessed composition quality EU/EEA. Conclusions The updated analyses two decades ESAC-Net most comprehensive detailed description Europe.