Population Data Science, Health Data Research UK, Swansea University.
Swansea University.
Int J Popul Data Sci. 2022 Apr 28;5(4):1715. doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v5i4.1715. eCollection 2020.
Population-level information on dispensed medication provides insight on the distribution of treated morbidities, particularly if linked to other population-scale data at an individual-level.
To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on dispensing patterns of medications.
Retrospective observational study using population-scale, individual-level dispensing records in Wales, UK. Total dispensed drug items for the population between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2019 (3-years, pre-COVID-19) were compared to 2020 with follow up until 27 July 2021 (COVID-19 period). We compared trends across all years and British National Formulary (BNF) chapters and highlighted the trends in three major chapters for 2019-21: 1-Cardiovascular system (CVD); 2-Central Nervous System (CNS); 3-Immunological & Vaccine. We developed an interactive dashboard to enable monitoring of changes as the pandemic evolves.
Amongst all BNF chapters, 73,410,543 items were dispensed in 2020 compared to 74,121,180 items in 2019 demonstrating -0.96% relative decrease in 2020. Comparison of monthly patterns showed average difference (D) of -59,220 and average Relative Change (RC) of -0.74% between the number of dispensed items in 2020 and 2019. Maximum RC was observed in March 2020 (D = +1,224,909 and RC = +20.62), followed by second peak in June 2020 (D = +257,920, RC = +4.50%). A third peak was observed in September 2020 (D = +264,138, RC = +4.35%). Large increases in March 2020 were observed for CVD and CNS medications across all age groups. The Immunological and Vaccine products dropped to very low levels across all age groups and all months (including the March dispensing peak).
Reconfiguration of routine clinical services during COVID-19 led to substantial changes in community pharmacy drug dispensing. This change may contribute to a long-term burden of COVID-19, raising the importance of a comprehensive and timely monitoring of changes for evaluation of the potential impact on clinical care and outcomes.
人群水平的药物配给信息提供了对治疗发病率分布的深入了解，尤其是如果将其与个人层面的其他人群尺度数据相关联。
评估 COVID-19 对药物配给模式的影响。
采用英国威尔士人群规模、个人水平的药物配给记录进行回顾性观察性研究。比较了 2016 年 1 月 1 日至 2019 年 12 月 31 日（3 年，COVID-19 前）期间人群中总配给药物项目与 2020 年的情况，随访至 2021 年 7 月 27 日（COVID-19 期间）。我们比较了所有年份和英国国家处方集（BNF）章节的趋势，并突出了 2019-21 年三个主要章节的趋势：1-心血管系统（CVD）；2-中枢神经系统（CNS）；3-免疫和疫苗。我们开发了一个交互式仪表板，以实现随着大流行的发展对变化的监测。
在所有 BNF 章节中，2020 年配给了 73410543 个项目，而 2019 年配给了 74121180 个项目，表明 2020 年相对减少了 0.96%。对每月模式的比较表明，2020 年和 2019 年配给药物数量的平均差异（D）为-59220，平均相对变化（RC）为-0.74%。2020 年 3 月观察到最大 RC（D=+1224909，RC=+20.62），其次是 2020 年 6 月的第二个峰值（D=+257920，RC=+4.50%）。2020 年 9 月观察到第三个峰值（D=+264138，RC=+4.35%）。所有年龄段的 CVD 和 CNS 药物在 2020 年 3 月均大幅增加。免疫和疫苗产品在所有年龄段和所有月份（包括 3 月的配给高峰）均降至非常低的水平。
COVID-19 期间常规临床服务的重新配置导致社区药房药物配给发生重大变化。这种变化可能导致 COVID-19 的长期负担，因此需要全面及时地监测变化，以评估其对临床护理和结果的潜在影响。
