ArticleThe Lancet regional health. Europe2023
Impact of COVID-19 on broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for common infections in primary care in England: a time-series analyses using OpenSAFELY and effects of predictors including deprivation.
Article in The Lancet regional health. Europe, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on the Prevalence and Drug Resistance ofHealth science reports · 2025Article
- Changes in microbiological characteristics of bloodstream infections before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary teaching hospital in Iran.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Determining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumption of antibiotics in Shaanxi province, China: an interrupted time-series analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Antibiotic prescribing patterns at outpatient clinics in Western and Coastal Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- 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
- Clinical and health inequality risk factors for non-COVID-related sepsis during the global COVID-19 pandemic: a national case-control and cohort study.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Streptococcus A Rapid Diagnostic Testing in England Community Pharmacies: Clinical and Economic Impact of Empowering Pharmacists in Management of Sore Throat.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the healthcare systems, adding extra pressure to reduce antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate changes in antibiotic prescription patterns after COVID-19 started. Methods: With the approval of NHS England, we used the OpenSAFELY platform to access the TPP SystmOne electronic health record (EHR) system in primary care and selected patients prescribed antibiotics from 2019 to 2021. To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing, we evaluated prescribing rates and its predictors and used interrupted time series analysis by fitting binomial logistic regression models. Findings: Over 32 million antibiotic prescriptions were extracted over the study period; 8.7% were broad-spectrum. The study showed increases in broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing (odds ratio [OR] 1.37; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.36-1.38) as an immediate impact of the pandemic, followed by a gradual recovery with a 1.1-1.2% decrease in odds of broad-spectrum prescription per month. The same pattern was found within subgroups defined by age, sex, region, ethnicity, and socioeconomic deprivation quintiles. More deprived patients were more likely to receive broad-spectrum antibiotics, which differences remained stable over time. The most significant increase in broad-spectrum prescribing was observed for lower respiratory tract infection (OR 2.33; 95% CI 2.1-2.50) and otitis media (OR 1.96; 95% CI 1.80-2.13). Interpretation: An immediate reduction in antibiotic prescribing and an increase in the proportion of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing in primary care was observed. The trends recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but the consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic on AMR needs further investigation. Funding: This work was supported by Health Data Research UK and by National Institute for Health Research.
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