Evolution of proton pump inhibitor prescribing from 2017 to 2021 at 14 secondary and tertiary hospitals in China:a multicentre cross-sectional study

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to describe the trend in prescribing proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use and expenditure in both secondary and tertiary hospitals in China between 2017 and 2021. DesignMulticentre cross-sectional survey. SettingChina, 14 medical centres, January 2017 to December 2021. Participants537 284 participants who were treated with PPI in 14 medical centres of China, between January 2017 and December 2021 were included. Main outcomes and measuresThe rate of PPI prescriptions, the defined daily doses (DDDs), DDDs/1000 inhabitants per day (DDDs/TID) and expenditure were analysed and plotted to demonstrate changes in prescription PPI use and expenditure. ResultsFor both outpatient and inpatient settings, the rate of PPI prescribing decreased from 2017 to 2021. In outpatient settings, decreased slightly from 3.4% to 2.8%, however, in inpatient settings, showed a progressive decrease from 26.7% to 14.0%. The overall rate of injectable PPI prescriptions for inpatients decreased significantly from 21.2% to 7.3% between 2017 and 2021. Decreased trends in usage of oral PPI were observed (from 280 750 DDDs to 255 121 DDDs) between 2017 and 2021. However, usage of injectable PPI showed a significantly decrease from 191 451 DDDs to 68 806 DDDs from 2017 to 2021. In terms of DDDs/TID of PPI for inpatients decreased dramatically from 52.3 to 30.2 for the past 5 years. Expenditure on oral PPI decreased slightly from yen 1.98 million (Chinese currency Renminbi 'yuan') to yen 1.23 million for the past 5 years, whereas expenditure on injectable PPI showed a marked decrease from yen 2.61 million to yen 0.94 million. There was no statistical difference in both PPI use and expenditure between secondary and tertiary hospitals during the study period. ConclusionsDecreased PPI use and expenditure were observed among secondary and tertiary hospitals over the past 5 years (2017-2021).