Article Document Academic Article Information Content Entity Continuant Continuant Journal Article Entity Entity Generically Dependent Continuant 2025-05-07T15:08:02 RDF description of Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dispensing of cardiovascular drugs in Norway: an interrupted time series study - http://repository.healthpartners.com/individual/document-rn35385 Prevention 66 22170 Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dispensing of cardiovascular drugs in Norway: an interrupted time series study American Journal of Preventive Medicine public 38100 Cardiovascular Diseases 4 Coronavirus Infections <p>INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in changes in prescription patterns and fillings for certain medications, but little is known about its impact on the dispensing of cardiovascular drugs. METHODS: Trends in dispensing of cardiovascular drugs before and during the pandemic were examined using a population-based cohort in Norway. Using interrupted time series analyses and considering March 1, 2020 as the interruption point, the impact of the pandemic on defined daily dose dispensing of prescribed cardiovascular drugs was estimated in a population of adults with and without pre-existing cardiovascular disease from January 2018 to December 2021. All data were analyzed in 2023. RESULTS: In a total of 4,053,957 adults, 690,910 (17.0%) had pre-existing cardiovascular disease. Prior to the pandemic, there was a significant monthly increase in any cardiovascular drug dispensing among those with pre-existing cardiovascular disease (0.30 defined daily dose per month per adult), including prescription of diuretics, calcium channel blockers, and lipid-modifying agents. After controlling for preinterruption trends, there was a slight decrease in level change immediately after the start of the pandemic (2.5 defined daily dose per month per adult) but an increase in the postinterruption trend (0.06 defined daily dose per month per adult) for dispensing of cardiovascular prescriptions, although these changes were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Although the COVID-19 pandemic did not appear to result in significant changes in patterns of cardiovascular drug dispensing in Norway, continued access to cardiovascular drugs remains important to prevent further related morbidity.<p> 2024-03-31T21:00:31.442-05:00 document-rn35385 COVID-19 Drugs and Drug Therapy 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.11.008