Chronic diseases and variations in rates of antimicrobial use in the community: a population-based analysis of linked administrative data in Quebec, Canada, 2002-2017

BACKGROUND: Chronic diseases may increase risk of infection and complications from infections; fear of these risks may lower clinicians' tolerance threshold for the prescription of antimicrobials, thus increasing the risk of selecting resistant bacteria. We sought to describe rates of antimicrobial use in Quebec and measure the association between chronic diseases and utilization rates.