Antidepressants Drug Use during COVID-19 Waves in the Tuscan General Population: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis.
Ippazio Cosimo Antonazzo, Carla Fornari, Sandy Maumus-Robert, Eleonora Cei, Olga Paoletti, Pietro Ferrara, Sara Conti, Paolo Angelo Cortesi, Lorenzo Giovanni Mantovani, Rosa Gini, Giampiero Mazzaglia
Author Information
Ippazio Cosimo Antonazzo: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy. ORCID
Carla Fornari: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy. ORCID
Sandy Maumus-Robert: Team Pharmacoepidemiology, Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Inserm U1219, University of Bordeaux, F-33000 Bordeaux, France.
Eleonora Cei: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Olga Paoletti: Regional Agency for Healthcare Services of Tuscany, Epidemiology, 50141 Florence, Italy.
Pietro Ferrara: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy. ORCID
Sara Conti: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy. ORCID
Paolo Angelo Cortesi: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Lorenzo Giovanni Mantovani: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Rosa Gini: Regional Agency for Healthcare Services of Tuscany, Epidemiology, 50141 Florence, Italy. ORCID
Giampiero Mazzaglia: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy.
In Italy, during the COVID-19 waves two lockdowns were implemented to prevent virus diffusion in the general population. Data on antidepressant (AD) use in these periods are still scarce. This study aimed at exploring the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on prevalence and incidence of antidepressant drug use in the general population. A population-based study using the healthcare administrative database of Tuscany was performed. We selected a dynamic cohort of subjects with at least one ADs dispensing from 1 January 2018 to 27 December 2020. The weekly prevalence and incidence of drug use were estimated across different segments: pre-lockdown (1 January 2018-8 March 2020), first lockdown (9 March 2020-15 June 2020), post-first lockdown (16 June 2020-15 November 2020) and second lockdown (16 November 2020-27 December 2020). An interrupted time-series analysis was used to assess the effect of lockdowns on the observed outcomes. Compared to the pre-lockdown we observed an abrupt reduction of ADs incidence (Incidence-Ratio: 0.82; 95% Confidence-Intervals: 0.74-0.91) and a slight weekly decrease of prevalence (Prevalence-Ratio: 0.997; 0.996-0.999). During the post-first lockdown AD use increased, with higher incidence- and similar prevalence values compared with those expected in the absence of the outbreak. This pandemic has impacted AD drug use in the general population with potential rebound effects during the period between waves. This calls for future studies aimed at exploring the mid-long term effects of this phenomenon.
