Outpatient systemic antimycotic and antifungal use in Europe: new outcome measure provides new insight.

To broaden our understanding of outpatient systemic antimycotic and antifungal use in Europe, use data in defined daily doses (DDD) were complemented with data in packages and the results were compared. Within the European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption project and using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification, data on outpatient use of all 14 antimycotics (12) and antifungals (2) for systemic use (ATC J02 and D01B), aggregated at the level of the active substance, were collected for 2009. Their use was expressed in DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID) and in packages per 1000 inhabitants per day (PID) (WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology ATC/DDD version 2011). In total, 24 countries delivered data in DID; 13 countries also delivered data in PID. In DID, Belgium had the highest (3.24 DID) and Romania the lowest (0.38 DID) total outpatient antimycotic and antifungal use. In PID, Greece had the highest (0.44 PID) and Sweden the lowest (0.08 PID) use. In DID, terbinafine was the most used substance in 19/24 countries (10/13 countries providing DID and PID data). In PID, fluconazole was the most used substance in all 13 countries. Combining DID and PID data substantially improved the interpretation of total outpatient antimycotic and antifungal use in Europe, and both outcome measures should be used for surveillance of these compounds. High use of fluconazole in PID might be more relevant for surveillance of antimicrobial consumption in relation to resistance than high use of terbinafine in DID.