ArticleOsteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA2024
Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on DXA waiting lists and osteoporosis prescription trends in England 2019-2023.
Article in Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Bone Mineral Density, Bone Biomarkers, and Joints in Acute, Post, and Long COVID-19: A Systematic Review.Viruses · 2024Pooled it
- Provision of medication prescription in a fracture liaison service did not diminish during COVID.Archives of osteoporosis · 2026Article
- Trends and variation in the incidence of hip fracture in England before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic (2014-2024): a population-based observational study.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2025Article
- Using machine-assisted topic analysis to expedite thematic analysis of free-text data: Exemplar investigation of factors influencing health behaviours and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.British journal of health psychology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
This study uses NHS waiting times and osteoporosis medication community prescription datasets to assess the impact of COVID-19 on DXA waits and osteoporosis medication patterns in England. Results show significant increases in DXA waiting list times and variation in prescription rates. Investment is needed to improve waiting list times. PURPOSE: This study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on DXA scan waiting lists, service recovery and osteoporosis medication prescriptions in the NHS following the March 2020 national lockdowns and staff redeployment.
methodsData from March 2019 to June 2023, including NHS digital diagnostics waiting times (DM01) and osteoporosis medication prescriptions from the English Prescribing Dataset (EPD), were analysed. This encompassed total waiting list data across England's seven regions and prescribing patterns for various osteoporosis medications. Analyses included total activity figures and regression analysis to estimate expected activity without COVID-19, using R for all data analysis.
resultsIn England, DXA waiting lists have grown significantly, with the yearly mean waiting list length increasing from 31,851 in 2019 to 65,757 in 2023. The percentage of patients waiting over 6 weeks for DXA scans rose from 0.9% in 2019 to 40% in 2020, and those waiting over 13 weeks increased from 0.1% in 2019 to 16.7% in 2020. Prescription trends varied, with increases in denosumab, ibandronic acid and risedronate sodium and decreases in alendronic acid, raloxifene hydrochloride and teriparatide. A notable overall prescription decrease occurred in the second quarter of 2020.
conclusionCOVID-19 has significantly increased DXA scan waiting lists with ongoing recovery challenges. There is a noticeable disparity in DXA service access across England. Osteoporosis care, indicated by medication prescriptions, also declined during the pandemic. Addressing these issues requires focused investment and effort to improve DXA scan waiting times and overall access to osteoporosis care in England.
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