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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community prescription of opioid and antineuropathic analgesics for cancer patients in Wales, UK
,
Rowena Griffiths,
Stuart Bedston,
Ashley Akbari ,
Bruce Burnett,
Jane Lyons,
Giles Greene,
Rebecca Thomas,
Tamsin Long,
Cathy Arnold,
Dyfed Wyn Huws,
Mark Lawler,
Ronan Lyons
Supportive Care in Cancer, Volume: 31, Issue: 9
Swansea University Authors:
Jun Han, Martin Rolles, Fatemeh Torabi , Rowena Griffiths, Stuart Bedston, Ashley Akbari , Bruce Burnett, Jane Lyons, Ronan Lyons
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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s00520-023-07944-8
Abstract
Purpose Public health measures instituted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK in 2020 had profound effects on the cancer patient pathway. We hypothesise that this may have affected analgesic prescriptions for cancer patients in primary care. Methods: A whole-nation retrospective, observa...
| Published in: | Supportive Care in Cancer |
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| ISSN: | 0941-4355 1433-7339 |
| Published: |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2023
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64135 |
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| Abstract: |
Purpose Public health measures instituted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK in 2020 had profound effects on the cancer patient pathway. We hypothesise that this may have affected analgesic prescriptions for cancer patients in primary care. Methods: A whole-nation retrospective, observational study of opioid and antineuropathic analgesics prescribed in primarycare for two cohorts of cancer patients in Wales, using linked anonymised data to evaluate the impact of the pandemic and variation between different demographic backgrounds. Results: We found a significant increase in strong opioid prescriptions during the pandemic for patients within their first 12 months of diagnosis with a common cancer (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.15, 95% CI: 1.12–1.18, p < 0.001 for strong opioids) and significant increases in strong opioid and antineuropathic prescriptions for patients in the last 3 months prior to a cancer-related death (IRR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04–1.07, p < 0.001 for strong opioids; IRR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.08–1.14, p < 0.001 for antineuropathics). A spike in opioid prescriptions for patients diagnosed in Q2 2020 and those who died in Q2 2020 was observed and interpreted as stockpiling. More analgesics were prescribed in more deprived quintiles. This diferential was less pronounced in patients towards the end of life, which we attribute to closer professional supervision. Conclusions: We demonstrate significant changes to community analgesic prescriptions for cancer patients related to the UK pandemic and illustrate prescription patterns linked to patients’ demographic background. |
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| Keywords: |
COVID-19 pandemic · Cancer · Pain · Prescription · Primary care · Analgesia |
| College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
| Funders: |
This work was supported by the Con-COV team funded by the Medical Research Council (grant number: MR/V028367/1), Health Data Research UK (grant number: HDR-9006) and ADR UK (grant ES/S007393/1). This work was also supported by the Wales COVID-19 Evidence Centre, funded by Health and Care Research Wales, and DATA-CAN, the UK Health Data Research Hub for Cancer.
Acknowledgements: This study makes use of anonymised data held in
the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. The collaboration was led by the Swansea University Health Data Research UK team under the direction of the Welsh Government Technical Advisory Cell (TAC) and includes the following groups and organisations: the
SAIL Databank, Administrative Data Research (ADR) Wales, Digital
Health and Care Wales (DHCW), Public Health Wales, NHS Shared
Services Partnership (NWSSP) and the Welsh Ambulance Service
Trust (WAST). |
| Issue: |
9 |