Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on public access to health services. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on commonly prescribed first-line antibiotics in English primary care. A secondary analysis of publicly available government data pertaining to primary care prescribing was conducted. A list of twenty first-line antibiotics used to treat common infections was developed following the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines. All primary care prescription and cost data pertaining to commonly prescribed first-line antibiotics in England between March and September of 2018–2020 were extracted and adjusted for inflation. Analysis suggests prescribing of antibiotics significantly reduced by 15.99% (p = 0.018) and 13.5% (p = 0.002) between March and September 2020 compared with same time period for 2018 and 2019, respectively. The most noticeable decrease in 2020 was noticed for prescribing for meningitis (−62.3%; p = 0.002) followed by respiratory tract infections (−39.13%; p = 0.035), in terms of indications. These results are suggestive of reduced transmission of infections in the community due to national lockdowns, social distancing and hygiene practices. In addition, the impact of reduced face-to-face consultations in general practices needs to be investigated as a potential reason for reduced prescribing. The pandemic also offers an opportunity to rationalize antibiotics use in the community.
Highlights
Since its first emergence in December 2019, the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has caused over 3.1 million deaths and has affected approximately over 148 million people worldwide as of 28 April 2021 [1]
The results presented below are based on 7-month antibiotic prescribing data (March– September) for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 in English primary care
The overall number of first-line antibiotics prescribed in England for the treatment of common infections decreased by 15.99% (p = 0.018) and 13.5% (p = 0.002) between March and September in 2020 compared to the corresponding periods in 2018 and 2019, respectively (Table 1 and Figure 1)
Summary
Since its first emergence in December 2019, the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has caused over 3.1 million deaths and has affected approximately over 148 million people worldwide as of 28 April 2021 [1]. These figures continue to rise as the SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate, making it more transmissible and, in some cases, deadlier. The number of telephone appointments increased over 2.5 folds during the same period [6] These drastic changes in the delivery of services in primary care, such as general practices and community pharmacies, have raised concerns with regards to timely equitable access to these services [5,7]
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