Systemic antibiotics and asthma medicines dispensed to 0−12 year olds significantly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
Haapanen, Marjut; Renko, Marjo; Artama, Miia; Kuitunen, Ilari (2022-01-19)
Haapanen, M, Renko, M, Artama, M, Kuitunen, I. Systemic antibiotics and asthma medicines dispensed to 0−12 year olds significantly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Acta Paediatr. 2022; 111: 376–382. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16144
© 2021 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Haapanen, M, Renko, M, Artama, M, Kuitunen, I. Systemic antibiotics and asthma medicines dispensed to 0−12 year olds significantly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Acta Paediatr. 2022; 111: 376– 382, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16144. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022030922585
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Aim: Nationwide lockdowns and social restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have reduced childhood infections. We assessed how many items of systemic antibiotics and asthma medicines were dispensed to children aged 0−12 years in Finland before and during the pandemic and analysed the reimbursement costs.
Methods: The data came from the national Finnish register of reimbursable prescriptions, which is maintained by the country’s Social Insurance Institution. It included all prescriptions for antibiotics and asthma medicines dispensed to children aged 0−12 years in 2019 and 2020. Prescription rates per 1000 children were calculated for each quarter and compared using rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).
Results: Overall dispensing for antibiotics decreased by 55.3% and was most prominent for macrolides for children aged 0−5 years (59.6%, 95% CI 60.9%−58.2%). Asthma medicines decreased by 19.8%, and the most prominent reduction was in short-acting beta-agonists for children aged 0−5 years (35.2%, 95% CI 36.1%−34.2%). These reduced reimbursement costs by 3.4 million Euros from 2019 to 2020.
Conclusion: This nationwide study showed that the number of antibiotics and asthma medicines decreased by 59.6% and 19.8% respectively from 2019 to 2020, generating a cost saving of 3.4 million Euros.
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