Investigation of antithrombotic drug use in terms of medicine abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic period

Abstract

Google Trends immediately reflect society's changing interest in a variety of topics. This studyaimed to examine the use of antithrombotic drugs in terms of medicine abuse during the COVID-19pandemic using Google Trends data. The words ‘Antithrombotic drugs’, ‘COVID-19’, and ‘Blood Thinner’were searched for three periods; the COVID-19 pre-pandemic period, the COVID-19 pandemic period, andthe COVID-19 vaccination period. The words ‘Antithrombotic drugs’, ‘Aspirin’, ‘Coraspin’, and ‘Plavix’as antiaggregant, ‘Coumadin', ‘Eliquis’, ‘Pradaxa’, ‘Xarelto’ as anticoagulants were searchedcomparatively for Turkey and the worldwide. Relative search volumes were evaluated using the GraphPadstatistical method. The search volume for ‘Blood Thinner’, ‘Aspirin’, and ‘Coraspin’ increased in otherperiods compared to the COVID-19 pre-pandemic period. COVID-19 has altered the popularity ofantithrombotics both in Turkey and worldwide. As in our study, unconscious drug consumption can beprevented when the tendencies of society, especially on drug-related issues, are determined early withepidemiological studies.