Antibiotic use in Barcelona in 2023 in primary care and the potential reduction by adjusting box sizes to current guidelines

Introduction. Prior research has not examined the size of antibiotic packages prescribed. We assessed 2023 prescription rates in Barcelona and the most prescribed presentations in pharmacies, while evaluating potential reductions if all amoxi-cillin and amoxicillin/clavulanate containers had 20 doses. Methods. Antibiotics prescribed by primary care doctors working for the Catalonian Health Institute in Barcelona in 2023 were analysed by calculating the defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants and day (DID). Results. The observed prescribing rate was 8 DID, with penicillins accounting for 4.6 DID (57.2%). The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavu-lanate, making up 4.4 DID. If all the 30-dose presentations of amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanate had been 20-dose con-tainers, the total number of DIDs would have been 3.3, result-ing in a reduction of 1.1 DID (25.4% less). Conclusions. Antibiotic prescribing rate in Barcelona was low. Aligning the dosage of antibiotics with established guidelines could further reduce antibiotic consumption.