ArticleChest2021
Changes in Purchases for Intensive Care Medicines During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Global Time Series Study.
Article in Chest, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Drug stockpiling behavior and its impact on anxiety among the general public in the early stage after the lifting of China's Zero-COVID policy: results from a web-based survey.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- EFAS/EAN survey on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on European clinical autonomic education and research.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2023Article
- Continuity of CVD treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from East Java, Indonesia.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
- COVID-19 and the prevalence of drug shortages in Canada: a cross-sectional time-series analysis from April 2017 to April 2022.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2022Article
- Plasma procurement and plasma product safety in light of the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of the plasma industry.Vox sanguinis · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDrug supply disruptions have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for medicines used in the ICU. Despite reported shortages in wealthy countries, global analyses of ICU drug purchasing during COVID-19 are limited. RESEARCH QUESTION: Has COVID-19 impacted global drug purchases of first-, second-, and third-choice agents used in intensive care? STUDY DESIGN AND
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional time series study in a global pharmacy sales dataset comprising approximately 60% of the world's population. We analyzed pandemic-related changes in units purchased per 1,000 population for 69 ICU agents. Interventional autoregressive integrated moving average models tested for significant changes when the pandemic was declared (March 2020) and during its first stage from April through August 2020, globally and by development status.
resultsRelative to 2019, ICU drug purchases increased by 23.6% (95% CI, 7.9%-37.9%) in March 2020 (P < .001) and then decreased by 10.3% (95% CI, -16.9% to -3.5%) from April through August (P = .006). Purchases for second-choice medicines changed the most, especially in developing countries (eg, 29.3% increase in March 2020). Despite similar relative changes (P = .88), absolute purchasing rates in developing nations remained low. The observed decrease from April through August 2020 was significant only in developed countries (-13.1%; 95% CI, -17.4% to -4.4%; P < .001). Country-level variation seemed unrelated to expected demand and health care infrastructure.
interpretationPurchases for intensive care medicines increased globally in the month of the COVID-19 pandemic declaration, but before peak infection rates. These changes were most pronounced for second-choice agents, suggesting that inexpensive, generic medicines may be purchased more easily in anticipation of pandemic-related ICU surges. Nevertheless, disparities in access persisted. Trends seemed unrelated to expected demand, and decreased purchasing from April through August 2020 may suggest overbuying. National and international policies are needed to ensure equitable drug purchasing during future pandemics.
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