The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pattern of Antibiotic and Opioid Prescriptions by Dentists in Alberta, Canada.

Abstract

After the shutdown of most dental services during the COVID-19 lockdown, the oral health community was concerned about an increase in prescribing opioids and antibiotics by dentists due to patients' limited access to dental offices. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the pattern of antibiotic and opioid prescriptions by dentists in Alberta, Canada. Data obtained from the Tracked Prescription Program were divided into antibiotics and opioids. Time periods were outlined as pre-, during-, and postlockdown (phase 1 and 2). For the number of prescriptions and average supply, each monthly average was compared to the corresponding prelockdown monthly average, using descriptive analysis. Time series analyses were conducted using regression analyses with an autoregressive error model. Data were trained and tested on monthly observations before lockdown and predicted for during- and postlockdown. A total of 1.1 million antibiotics and 400,000 opioids dispense were tracked. Decreases in the number of prescriptions during lockdown presented for antibiotics (n = 24,933 vs. 18,884) and opioids (n = 8892 vs. 6051). Average supplies (days) for the antibiotics (n = 7.10 vs. 7.55) and opioids (n = 3.92 vs. 4.05) were higher during the lockdown period. In the trend analyses, the monthly number of antibiotic and opioid prescriptions showed the same pattern and decreased during lockdown. The COVID-19 pandemic altered the trends of prescribing antibiotics and opioids by dentists. The full impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the population's oral health in light of changes in prescribing practices by dentists during and after lockdown warrants further investigation.