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Observational Study
. 2023 Feb 14:11:1116337.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1116337. eCollection 2023.

Changes in prescription drug abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic evidenced in the Catalan pharmacies

Maria Perelló  1   2 , Karla Rio-Aige  2   3 , Pilar Rius  1 , Guillermo Bagaría  1 , Anna M Jambrina  2   4 , Montse Gironès  1 , Francisco José Pérez-Cano  2   3 , Manel Rabanal  2   3   4
Affiliations
Observational Study

Changes in prescription drug abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic evidenced in the Catalan pharmacies

Maria Perelló et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: The impact of a pandemic on the mental health of the population is to be expected due to risk factors such as social isolation. Prescription drug abuse and misuse could be an indicator of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Community pharmacists play an important role in addressing prescription drug abuse by detecting signs and behaviors that give a clearer indication that a drug abuse problem exists.

Methods: A prospective observational study to observe prescription drug abuse was conducted from March 2020 to December 2021 to compare with data obtained in the previous 2 years, through the Medicine Abuse Observatory, the epidemiological surveillance system set up in Catalonia. Information was obtained through a validated questionnaire attached on a web-based system and data collection software. A total of 75 community pharmacies were enrolled in the program.

Results: The number of notifications during the pandemic period (11.8/100.000 inhabitants) does not indicate a significant change compared with those from pre-pandemic period, when it was 12.5/100.000 inhabitants. However, the number of notifications during the first wave when lockdown was in place stood at 6.1/100,000 inhabitants, significantly lower than in both the pre-pandemic and the whole of the pandemic periods. Regarding the patient's profile, it was observed that the proportion of younger patients (<25 and 25-35) rose in contrast to older ones (45-65 and >65). The use of benzodiazepines and fentanyl increased.

Conclusions: This study has made it possible to observe the impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 on the behavior of patients in terms of use of prescription drugs through analysis of the trends of abuse or misuse and by comparing them with the pre-pandemic period. Overall, the increased detection of benzodiazepines has pointed out stress and anxiety generated by the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID; benzodiazepines; community pharmacy; drug; medicine abuse; observatory; pandemics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Two-dimensional MCA plots for the pre-COVID period (A) and the COVID period (B). Cos2 measures the degree of association between variable categories and axial categories. If the variable category is well represented by the dimensions, values for cos2 are close to one.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Patient profile across pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Distribution of participants by (A) sex, (B) age, (C) age and sex and (D) origin. Statistical differences: *p < 0.05 pandemic vs. pre-pandemic.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Description and proportion of type of drug according to (A) both periods and (B) depiction by MCA analysis. Statistical differences: *p < 0.05 pandemic vs. pre-pandemic.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Drug-requesting behavior of patients. Distribution of participants according to (A) type of request, (B) frequent request, (C) use of intimidation, and (D) supply of medicine. Requesting types are as follows: I. prescriptions corresponding to an over-the-counter (OTC) drug; II. formal prescription; III. without prescription; IV. Forged prescriptions. Statistical differences: *p < 0.05 pandemic vs. pre-pandemic.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Patient age distribution profile according across waves. Statistical differences: *p < 0.05 vs. the value in the total pandemic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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