ArticleHarm reduction journal2025
Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on methadone and buprenorphine prescriptions in England primary cares: an interrupted time series analysis.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 lockdown prompted changes in accessing opioid agonist therapy in England, but the lockdown and further adaptations could exacerbate inequalities in opioid agonist therapy availability across practices with different socioeconomic statuses. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the prescribing of methadone and buprenorphine and how general practices located within areas with differing socioeconomic status responded to these policies in England.
methodsThis quasi-experimental study used a health administrative practice-level dispensing database from March 2019 to February 2022 and socioeconomic deprivation from the Office for National Statistics in England. General practices that prescribed methadone or buprenorphine were included. The monthly number of Defined Daily Doses (DDDs) and dispensed items were quantified. The monthly changes in DDDs and dispensed items during the COVID-19 lockdown were also calculated. Interrupted time series analysis was used to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. For practices with consistent prescribing (any OAT prescribing from December 2019 to February 2020 and 6 months during the lockdown), a group-based trajectory model explored the variability between practices.
resultsA significant level elevation (β
conclusionsThe COVID-19 lockdown limited the prescribing of methadone and increased the prescribing of buprenorphine in England. Further studies should adopt individual patient data to investigate the potential reasons for limiting the prescribing of methadone.
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