ArticleFamily medicine and community health2021
Analysis of primary care prescription trends in England during the COVID-19 pandemic compared against a predictive model.
Article in Family medicine and community health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Adherence to Chronic Therapies: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Primary Care Prescribing Patterns for Benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs, and Evidence Gaps Concerning Hydroxyzine and Seasonality: A Systematic Review.Clinics and practice · 2026Review
- Antidepressant prescribing trends for adult patients in the UK and Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic: systematic review.BJPsych open · 2026Review
- Risk factors for COPD exacerbations and mortality, and variation between primary care settings: the PRAXIS cohort study in Sweden.Family medicine and community health · 2026Article
- Applying High-Dimensional Propensity Scores in a Study of Inhaled Corticosteroids and COVID-19 Outcomes.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2025Article
- Outpatient utilization trend of bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory agents in the pandemic and beyond.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Distribution and Determinants of Antibiotic Self-Medication: A Cross-Sectional Study in Chinese Residents.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Changes in Hormonal Contraceptive Dispensing Trends Among Commercially Insured Kentucky Females During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2025Article
- Trends in medication use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, Canada.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Prevalence and associated factors influencing the use of antibiotics for self-medication among Chinese residents: a cross-sectional study in 2021.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Article
- Using Quantitative Bias Analysis to Adjust for Misclassification of COVID-19 Outcomes: An Applied Example of Inhaled Corticosteroids and COVID-19 Outcomes.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2025Article
- Changes in opioid prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic in England: an interrupted time-series analysis in the OpenSAFELY-TTP cohort.The Lancet. Public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Deep learning in public health: Comparative predictive models for COVID-19 case forecasting.PloS one · 2024Article
- Are insect bites responsible for the rise in summer flucloxacillin prescribing in United Kingdom general practices?Family practice · 2023Article
- Article
- Contraceptive use and pregnancy planning in Britain during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from a large, quasi-representative survey (Natsal-COVID).BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2023Article
- Article
- OpenSAFELY NHS Service Restoration Observatory 2: changes in primary care clinical activity in England during the COVID-19 pandemic.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact across primary care. Primary care services have seen an upheaval, and more and more patients are engaging in telephone consultations in order to maintain social distancing. In the present study, we seek to quantify the effect of the pandemic on primary care prescribing.
designWe conducted a retrospective analysis of the English Prescribing Dataset from January 2014 to November 2020, totalling 7 542 293 921 prescriptions. Data were separated into prepandemic and pandemic sets. A Holt-Winters predictive model was used to forecast individual drug prescribing based on historic trends. Observed data were compared with the forecast quantitatively and qualitatively.
settingAll prescriptions signed in England and dispensed during the years 2014-2020.
participantsAll residents of England who received a prescription from primary care facilities during 2014-2020.
resultsPrescribing of numerous health-critical medications was above predicted in March 2020, including salbutamol (53.0% (99% CI (41.2% to 66.9%))), insulin aspart (26.9% (99% CI (18.5% to 36.6%))) and tacrolimus (18.6% (99% CI (8.3% to 31.1%))). Medications for end-of-life symptom control increased in April, including levomepromazine hydrochloride (94.7% (99% CI (54.6% to 163.0%))). Medications requiring face-to-face visits decreased, including the local anaesthetic bupivacaine hydrochloride (86.6% (99% CI (89.3% to 82.0%))). There was no observed change in medications relating to type 2 diabetes, hypertension or mental health conditions.
conclusionsSignificantly increased prescribing of several medications was observed, especially among those critical for health. A dramatic spike in end-of-life prescribing highlights the adversity faced by community practitioners during 2020. Medications involving face-to-face consultations declined, as did contraceptives, travel-related vaccines and drugs used in dementia and Parkinson's disease. Drugs relating to type 2 diabetes, hypertension and mental health were unchanged.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.