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Research Article
Drug-utilisation Profiles and COVID-19: Retrospective Cohort Study in Italy
Valentina Orlando
CIRFF, Center of Drug Utilization and Pharmacoeconomics, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, 80131, Italy
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8209-8878
Enrica Menditto
CIRFF, Center of Drug Utilization and Pharmacoeconomics, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, 80131, Italy
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8633-5650
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wrought havoc on healthcare systems worldwide. Age, chronic diseases, use of drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), male sex and genetic predisposition have been postulated as risk factors for adverse outcomes in COVID-19 cases. A retrospective drug-utilisation study was carried out using information collected routinely in a healthcare database (CaReDB) in Campania (Southern Italy). We wished to discover the prevalence of drug utilisation (monotherapy and polytherapy) in COVID-19 vs. non-COVID-19 patients in Campania (~6 million inhabitants). The study cohort was 1,532 individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. Drugs were grouped according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system. We noted a higher prevalence of use of drugs in the ATC category C01, B01 and M04, and this was probably linked to related comorbidities (i.e., cardiovascular, metabolic). Nevertheless, the prevalence of use of drugs acting on the RAS, such as antihypertensive drugs, was not higher among COVID-19 patients compared with that in non-COVID-19 patients. These results highlight the need for further case–control studies to define the effect of medications and comorbidities on susceptibility to, and associated mortality from, COVID-19.
Keywords
COVID-19, SARS-Cov-2, Drug-utilisation study, Real-world data, Drug use
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Research Article
Drug-utilisation Profiles and COVID-19: Retrospective Cohort Study in Italy
Valentina Orlando
CIRFF, Center of Drug Utilization and Pharmacoeconomics, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, 80131, Italy
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8209-8878
Enrica Menditto
CIRFF, Center of Drug Utilization and Pharmacoeconomics, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, 80131, Italy
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8633-5650
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 29 May, 2020
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wrought havoc on healthcare systems worldwide. Age, chronic diseases, use of drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), male sex and genetic predisposition have been postulated as risk factors for adverse outcomes in COVID-19 cases. A retrospective drug-utilisation study was carried out using information collected routinely in a healthcare database (CaReDB) in Campania (Southern Italy). We wished to discover the prevalence of drug utilisation (monotherapy and polytherapy) in COVID-19 vs. non-COVID-19 patients in Campania (~6 million inhabitants). The study cohort was 1,532 individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. Drugs were grouped according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system. We noted a higher prevalence of use of drugs in the ATC category C01, B01 and M04, and this was probably linked to related comorbidities (i.e., cardiovascular, metabolic). Nevertheless, the prevalence of use of drugs acting on the RAS, such as antihypertensive drugs, was not higher among COVID-19 patients compared with that in non-COVID-19 patients. These results highlight the need for further case–control studies to define the effect of medications and comorbidities on susceptibility to, and associated mortality from, COVID-19.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3