Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie (CNAM) to evaluate the plan’s impact on the consumption of antibiotics by the French..

After analyzing nearly a half billion data collected over five years (2002-2007), they publish their results today in PLoS Medicine: it is the largest study to analyze the impact of a national plan Optimization of antibiotic use ever conducted to date. This work is an experiment in public health research on a single international level which could serve as an example the evaluation of other public health programs of its kind in the world.

By health insurance was intended to reduce by 25% in five years the use of antibiotics in the French population, it specifically targeted viral respiratory infections in young children, among whom over 50% of antibiotic prescriptions was deemed unnecessary to the origins of their often viral infections.

The impact of the national campaign has been analyzed in the unity of Pharmacoepidemiology and Infectious Diseases directed by Didier Guillemot at the Pasteur Institute (INSERM U657). This work was based on individual patient data, electronic and anonymous from reimbursements from health insurance funds (health insurance and social network of the Independents). These data include personal information about the drug (always accompanies issued a bar code which enables identification of the particular product, dosage specific, formulated, its manufacturer), the prescription date, the sex of the patient, date of birth and region of residence.


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