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The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Children and Adolescents—A Claims-Based Study in Germany

The aim of the study was to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic had any effect on antibiotic prescription rates in children in Germany. Using the nationwide outpatient prescription data from the Statutory Health Insurance from 2010 to 2021, changes in the monthly prescriptions of systemic antibiot...

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Autores principales: Akmatov, Manas K., Kohring, Claudia, Dammertz, Lotte, Heuer, Joachim, Below, Maike, Bätzing, Jörg, Holstiege, Jakob
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9598667/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36290090
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11101433
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author Akmatov, Manas K.
Kohring, Claudia
Dammertz, Lotte
Heuer, Joachim
Below, Maike
Bätzing, Jörg
Holstiege, Jakob
author_facet Akmatov, Manas K.
Kohring, Claudia
Dammertz, Lotte
Heuer, Joachim
Below, Maike
Bätzing, Jörg
Holstiege, Jakob
author_sort Akmatov, Manas K.
collection PubMed
description The aim of the study was to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic had any effect on antibiotic prescription rates in children in Germany. Using the nationwide outpatient prescription data from the Statutory Health Insurance from 2010 to 2021, changes in the monthly prescriptions of systemic antibiotics dispensed to children aged 0–14 years were examined (n = 9,688,483 in 2021). Interrupted time series analysis was used to assess the effect of mitigation measures against SARS-COV-2, introduced in March and November 2020, on antibiotic prescription rates. In the pre-pandemic period, the antibiotic prescription rates displayed a linear decrease from 2010 to 2019 (mean annual decrease, –6%). In 2020, an immediate effect of mitigation measures on prescription rates was observed; in particular, the rate decreased steeply in April (RR 0.24, 95% CI: 0.14–0.41) and November 2020 (0.44, 0.27–0.73). The decrease was observed in all ages and for all antibiotic subgroups. However, this effect was temporary. Regionally, prescription rates were highly correlated between 2019 and 2020/2021. Substantial reductions in antibiotic prescription rates following the mitigation measures may indicate limited access to medical care, changes in care-seeking behavior and/or a decrease of respiratory infections. Despite an all-time low of antibiotic use, regional variations remained high and strongly correlated with pre-pandemic levels.
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spelling pubmed-95986672022-10-27 The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Children and Adolescents—A Claims-Based Study in Germany Akmatov, Manas K. Kohring, Claudia Dammertz, Lotte Heuer, Joachim Below, Maike Bätzing, Jörg Holstiege, Jakob Antibiotics (Basel) Brief Report The aim of the study was to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic had any effect on antibiotic prescription rates in children in Germany. Using the nationwide outpatient prescription data from the Statutory Health Insurance from 2010 to 2021, changes in the monthly prescriptions of systemic antibiotics dispensed to children aged 0–14 years were examined (n = 9,688,483 in 2021). Interrupted time series analysis was used to assess the effect of mitigation measures against SARS-COV-2, introduced in March and November 2020, on antibiotic prescription rates. In the pre-pandemic period, the antibiotic prescription rates displayed a linear decrease from 2010 to 2019 (mean annual decrease, –6%). In 2020, an immediate effect of mitigation measures on prescription rates was observed; in particular, the rate decreased steeply in April (RR 0.24, 95% CI: 0.14–0.41) and November 2020 (0.44, 0.27–0.73). The decrease was observed in all ages and for all antibiotic subgroups. However, this effect was temporary. Regionally, prescription rates were highly correlated between 2019 and 2020/2021. Substantial reductions in antibiotic prescription rates following the mitigation measures may indicate limited access to medical care, changes in care-seeking behavior and/or a decrease of respiratory infections. Despite an all-time low of antibiotic use, regional variations remained high and strongly correlated with pre-pandemic levels. MDPI 2022-10-18 /pmc/articles/PMC9598667/ /pubmed/36290090 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11101433 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Brief Report
Akmatov, Manas K.
Kohring, Claudia
Dammertz, Lotte
Heuer, Joachim
Below, Maike
Bätzing, Jörg
Holstiege, Jakob
The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Children and Adolescents—A Claims-Based Study in Germany
title The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Children and Adolescents—A Claims-Based Study in Germany
title_full The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Children and Adolescents—A Claims-Based Study in Germany
title_fullStr The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Children and Adolescents—A Claims-Based Study in Germany
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Children and Adolescents—A Claims-Based Study in Germany
title_short The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Children and Adolescents—A Claims-Based Study in Germany
title_sort effect of the covid-19 pandemic on outpatient antibiotic prescription rates in children and adolescents—a claims-based study in germany
topic Brief Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9598667/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36290090
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11101433
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