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. 2022 Dec:204:1-14.
doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.10.012. Epub 2022 Oct 14.

Adherence during COVID-19: The role of aging and socio-economics status in shaping drug utilization

Cinzia Di Novi  1 , Lucia Leporatti  2 , Rosella Levaggi  3 , Marcello Montefiori  2
Affiliations

Adherence during COVID-19: The role of aging and socio-economics status in shaping drug utilization

Cinzia Di Novi et al. J Econ Behav Organ. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Our study investigates the potential impact that COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions may have had on drug utilization and the role of patient age and education in reshaping it. We focused on patients affected by diabetes mellitus, who are likely to suffer a higher degree of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. We used a bi-monthly administrative panel dataset from January 2019 to December 2020 from Liguria (Italy), one of the regions with the highest number of individuals over the age of 65 in Europe. The results demonstrated that, after the initial shock, when patients tried to increase their personal stock of drugs to overcome the risk of possible additional barriers generated by the coronavirus, the hoarding effect almost disappeared. Adherence has drastically reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and has never reached pre-COVID levels again. Older and poorly educated patients seem to have suffered more from the restrictions imposed by the lockdown and fear of contagion and they may be the ideal target group when considering possible policy interventions to improve adherence.

Keywords: Adherence; COVID-19; Chronic conditions; Drug access; Older adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Trend in weekly amount of Metformin picks up by year Note: Dashed line points out the start of lockdown restrictions.
Fig 2
Fig. 2
Descriptive statistics on adherence and stockpiling.
Fig 3
Fig. 3
Predictive margins.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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