Context

Pharmacy First

Inclusion/exclusion criteria

We included : Mupirocin (VTM) 776837004 Mupirocin 2% cream (VMP) 41903711000001100 Mupirocin 2% nasal ointment (VMP) 41903911000001103 Mupirocin 2% ointment (VMP) 41

Borderline cases

We considered different mupirocin formulations and routes of administration as borderline cases. Topical dermatological preparations and the nasal ointment formulation were included because both are licensed mupirocin products relevant to bacterial skin and nasal decolonisation indications that may be encountered within community prescribing contexts. The included codes cover the Virtual Therapeutic Moiety (VTM) and Virtual Medicinal Products (VMPs) for cream, ointment, and nasal ointment formulations.

Sensitivity vs specificity

The codelist was designed to be relatively specific rather than highly sensitive. The objective was to identify mupirocin prescribing relevant to Pharmacy First and community-based management pathways while minimising inclusion of unrelated antibacterial products. Inclusion was therefore restricted to mupirocin-specific concepts and clinically relevant formulations.

Additional information

The codelist includes both high-level therapeutic concepts (VTM) and formulation-specific VMP codes to improve capture across prescribing datasets. The focus was on products likely to be prescribed or dispensed in primary care and community pharmacy settings. Both dermatological and nasal mupirocin formulations were retained because they may represent clinically relevant prescribing.