Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35697373›Full record

ArticleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2022

COVID-19 and the prevalence of drug shortages in Canada: a cross-sectional time-series analysis from April 2017 to April 2022.

Brian Lau, Mina Tadrous, Cherry Chu, Lorian Hardcastle, Reed F Beall

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  3. Rising out-of-hospital mortality in Canada during 2020‒2022: A striking impact observed among young adults.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2025
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  7. Article
  8. Article
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  11. 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 · 2023
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Brian LauDepartment of Community Health Sciences (Lau, Hardcastle, Beall), Cumming School of Medicine, and Faculty of Law (Hardcastle), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.; Women's College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (Tadrous, Chu), Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Toronto, Ont.
Mina TadrousDepartment of Community Health Sciences (Lau, Hardcastle, Beall), Cumming School of Medicine, and Faculty of Law (Hardcastle), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.; Women's College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (Tadrous, Chu), Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Toronto, Ont.
Cherry ChuDepartment of Community Health Sciences (Lau, Hardcastle, Beall), Cumming School of Medicine, and Faculty of Law (Hardcastle), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.; Women's College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (Tadrous, Chu), Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Toronto, Ont.
Lorian HardcastleDepartment of Community Health Sciences (Lau, Hardcastle, Beall), Cumming School of Medicine, and Faculty of Law (Hardcastle), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.; Women's College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (Tadrous, Chu), Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Toronto, Ont.
Reed F BeallDepartment of Community Health Sciences (Lau, Hardcastle, Beall), Cumming School of Medicine, and Faculty of Law (Hardcastle), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta.; Women's College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (Tadrous, Chu), Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Toronto, Ont. reed.beall@ucalgary.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn March 2020, the Government of Canada introduced measures to reduce intensifying shortages of prescription drugs during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to assess the extent to which a decline in drug shortages was observed in the months after this policy change.

methodsOur data source was the Drug Shortages Canada Database, which reports shortages by drug product, including shortage start and duration. Using a cross-sectional design, we tracked shortage rates of drug products using a 30-day moving average from Apr. 15, 2017, to Apr. 1, 2022. We used autoregressive integrated moving average modelling with a ramp function to determine the significance of trend changes after policy implementation.

resultsWe found that of the 13 329 drug products at risk for shortage, 44.7% (

interpretationDrug shortages are common in Canada, including during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed substantial improvements after the implementation of the new measures, but gains appear to have plateaued. Continued vigilance is needed to sustain improvements.

Indexed as

COVID-19Drug IndustryCross-Sectional StudiesHumansPandemicsPrevalence

Identifiers

PMID35697373
PMCPMC9262135

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.