Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
16th Congress of the European Association for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Rotterdam, Hollanda, 8 Haziran - 11 Aralık 2024, ss.256-257
Influence of COVID-19 measures on anxiolytic utilization in Turkey: Results from Changes in Nationwide Drug Consumption During the Pandemic Study Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the imposition of extraordinary measures in order to control the spread of the infection. These restrictions may have complicated the management of mental health conditions, such as anxiety disorders, and possibly affecting the consumption of related medications. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the utilization of anxiolytics. Methods: Nationwide outpatient medication sales data from March 2018 to December 2022 were obtained from IQVIA Turkey, along with the prescribing projection data for the corresponding timeframe. Out of six main drug categories of the comprehensive study, the use of anxiolytics (ATC-3 class: N05B) was evaluated in this particular analysis. We evaluated the average monthly consumption and costs of anxiolytics, as well as the quarterly levels of anxiolytics prescribed across three distinct time periods defined as “before restrictions” (BfR, 01.03.2018-31.03.2020), “during restrictions” (DuR, 01.04.2020-31.03.2022), and “after restrictions” (AfR, 01.04.2022-31.12.2022). Utilization levels were measured using “defined daily dose/1000 inhabitants” (DID) metric. Results: Average monthly utilization of anxiolytics rose from 2.0±0.3 DID in BfR to 2.5±0.3 DID in DuR (p<0.001) and further to 2.7±0.3 DID in AfR (p<0.001 vs. BfR). The mean number of anxiolytics prescribed quarterly escalated from 260.8±25.6 thousand units in BfR to 359.8±23.8 thousand units in DuR (p<0.001), and subsequently declined to 293.4±27.9 thousand units in AfR (p=0.003 vs. DuR). Alprazolam was the most frequently used anxiolytic (43.2%), followed by hydroxyzine (39.3%) and diazepam (7.2%). Consumption of alprazolam notably increased following BfR (0.9±0.2 DID), rising to 1.1±0.1 DID in DuR (p<0.001), then plateaued at 1.1±0.1 DID in AfR (p<0.001 vs. BfR). Total cost of anxiolytics increased from 0.8±0.1 million Euros (m€) in BfR to 1.0±0.1 m€ in DuR (p<0.001) and continued to elevate in AfR (1.1±0.1 m€, p<0.001 vs. BfR, p=0.047 vs DuR). Conclusions: This study showed that both the consumption and prescribing of anxiolytics saw an uptick when the COVID-19 pandemic-associated restrictions were in place. The surge in anxiolytic prescriptions during the timeframe with limited healthcare access suggests a heightened demand for anxiety pharmacotherapy, possibly due to the impact of pandemic.