ArticlePharmacoepidemiology and drug safety2021
Utilization of drugs with reports on potential efficacy or harm on COVID-19 before, during, and after the first pandemic wave.
Article in Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Self-management of long COVID symptoms with over-the-counter medicines and other non-prescribed therapies: a cross-sectional survey.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Observational
- Evaluating the utilisation patterns of pharmacological therapy in COVID-19 patients: an ecological study in Italy.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Assessment of Paracetamol Usage Practices and Perceptions among Caregivers for Children Post-COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Trends in medicine utilisation in public and private healthcare facilities before and during COVID-19: a nationwide analysis of medicine procurement and sales data, 2018-2022.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on implementation of novel guideline-directed medical therapies for heart failure in Germany: a nationwide retrospective analysis.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2023Article
- Article
- Formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) in the electrochemical oxidation of polluted waters with pharmaceuticals used against COVID-19.Journal of environmental chemical engineering · 2023Article
- Appropriateness of the Prescription and Use of Medicines: An Old Concept but More Relevant than Ever.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- A temporary regulation to manage an impending shortage due to extraordinary prescribing patterns of chloroquines observed during early phase of COVID-19 epidemic.Upsala journal of medical sciences · 2023Article
- Outpatient purchasing patterns of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin in the USA and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis from 2016 to 2021.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2022Article
- Assessment of the Prescriptions of Systemic Antibiotics in Primary Dental Care in Germany from 2017 to 2021: A Longitudinal Drug Utilization Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- To clarify the safety profile of paracetamol for home-care patients with COVID-19: a real-world cohort study, with nested case-control analysis, in primary care.Internal and emergency medicine · 2022Article
- Antibiotic prescribing trends in the US during the first 11 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP · 2022Observational
- Strategies and Tools for Supporting the Appropriateness of Drug Use in Older People.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Egyptian perspectives on potential risk of paracetamol/acetaminophen-induced toxicities: Lessons learnt during COVID-19 pandemic.Toxicology reports · 2022Article
- Beta-blockers in post-acute myocardial infarction patients: Drug prescription patterns from 2018 to Italy's first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Changes in dispensing of medicines proposed for re-purposing in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.PloS one · 2022Article
- Utilization of drugs with reports on potential efficacy or harm on COVID-19 before, during, and after the first pandemic wave.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeConflicting information on potential benefits of drugs as well as reports on hypothetical harm of commonly used drugs in COVID-19 treatment have challenged clinicians and healthcare systems. We analyzed the change in ambulatory drug utilization before, during, and after the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.
methodsWe explored dispensing data of nearly 19 000 pharmacies at the expense of the statutory health insurance funds covering 88% of Germany's population. We analyzed utilization of publicly discussed drugs with conflicting information. Drug utilization as number of packages dispensed per week from January to June 2020, reflecting 314 million claims, was compared with 2019.
resultsUtilization of hydroxychloroquine increased +110% during March 2020 and then slightly decreased until week April 13-19. Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors and simvastatin/atorvastatin increased, +78% and +74%, respectively, and subsequently decreased below 2019 levels. Utilization of azithromycin and all systemic antibiotics decreased continuously from March 2-8 until June to levels considerably lower compared to 2019 (June 22-28: azithromycin: -55%, all systemic antibiotics: -27%). Pneumococcal vaccines utilization initially increased +373%, followed by supply shortages. Paracetamol utilization showed an initial increase of +111%, mainly caused by an increase of over-the-counter dispensings.
conclusionsApart from the pandemic itself, the data suggest that dissemination of misinformation and unsound speculations as well as supply shortages influenced drug prescribing, utilization, and purchasing behavior. The findings can inform post-pandemic policy to prevent unfounded over- and underprescribing and off-label use as well as drug shortages during a public health crisis.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.