1. Opioid prescribing in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national register-based study.
- Author
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Ellerbroek H, Schellekens AFA, Kalkman GA, Visser DA, Kramers C, Dahan A, van den Heuvel SAS, Bouvy ML, and van Dorp ELA
- Subjects
- Humans, Netherlands epidemiology, Male, Female, Middle Aged, Adult, Aged, Adolescent, Young Adult, SARS-CoV-2, Pandemics, Child, COVID-19 epidemiology, Analgesics, Opioid therapeutic use, Practice Patterns, Physicians' statistics & numerical data, Drug Prescriptions statistics & numerical data, Registries
- Abstract
Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown measures disrupted global healthcare provision, including opioid prescribing. In North America, opioid sales declined while opioid-related deaths increased. In Europe, the effect of the pandemic on prescribing is not yet known. Given the ongoing increase in opioid-related harm and mortality, it is crucial to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and lockdown measures on opioid prescribing. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterise opioid prescribing in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic., Design: A nationwide register-based study characterising opioid prescribing using aggregated insurance reimbursement data., Setting: Dutch healthcare during the first 2 years of the COVID lockdown., Participants: The whole Dutch population., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: Comparing the number of opioid prescriptions during the pandemic with a prepandemic period using a risk ratio (RR), with separate analysis on the prescription type (first-time or repeat prescription), patients' sex, age and socioeconomic status. We also explored lockdown effects., Results: During the first lockdown, the total number of new opioid prescriptions and prescriptions to young patients (briefly) decreased (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.89 and RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.75, respectively), but the overall number of opioid prescriptions remained stable throughout the pandemic compared with prepandemic. Women, older patients and patients living in lower socioeconomic areas received more opioids per capita, but the pandemic did not amplify these differences., Conclusions: The pandemic appears to have had a limited impact on opioid prescribing in the Netherlands. Yet, chronic use of opioids remains an important public health issue., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)
- Published
- 2024
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