Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown, during the Two Waves, on Drug Use and Emergency Department Access in People with Epilepsy: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis

Ippazio Cosimo Antonazzo, Carla Fornari, Sandy Maumus-Robert, Eleonora Cei, Olga Paoletti, Sara Conti, Paolo Angelo Cortesi, Lorenzo Giovanni Mantovani, Rosa Gini and Giampiero Mazzaglia
Additional contact information
Ippazio Cosimo Antonazzo: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
Carla Fornari: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
Sandy Maumus-Robert: Team Pharmacoepidemiology, Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, Inserm U1219, University of Bordeaux, 33000 Bordeaux, France
Eleonora Cei: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
Olga Paoletti: Epidemiology Unit, Regional Agency for Healthcare Services of Tuscany, 50141 Florence, Italy
Sara Conti: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
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: Epidemiology Unit, Regional Agency for Healthcare Services of Tuscany, 50141 Florence, Italy
Giampiero Mazzaglia: Research Centre on Public Health (CESP), University of Milan-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-10

Abstract: Background: In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Italy implemented two national lockdowns aimed at reducing virus transmission. We assessed whether these lockdowns affected anti-seizure medication (ASM) use and epilepsy-related access to emergency departments (ED) in the general population. Methods: We performed a population-based study using the healthcare administrative database of Tuscany. We defined the weekly time series of prevalence and incidence of ASM, along with the incidence of epilepsy-related ED access from 1 January 2018 to 27 December 2020 in the general population. An interrupted time-series analysis was used to assess the effect of lockdowns on the observed outcomes. Results: Compared to pre-lockdown, we observed a relevant reduction of ASM incidence (0.65; 95% Confidence Intervals: 0.59–0.72) and ED access (0.72; 0.64–0.82), and a slight decrease of ASM prevalence (0.95; 0.94–0.96). During the post-lockdown the ASM incidence reported higher values compared to pre-lockdown, whereas ASM prevalence and ED access remained lower. Results also indicate a lower impact of the second lockdown for both ASM prevalence (0.97; 0.96–0.98) and incidence (0.89; 0.80–0.99). Conclusion: The lockdowns implemented during the COVID-19 outbreaks significantly affected ASM use and epilepsy-related ED access. The potential consequences of these phenomenon are still unknown, although an increased incidence of epilepsy-related symptoms after the first lockdown has been observed. These findings emphasize the need of ensuring continuous care of epileptic patients in stressful conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Italy; epilepsy; anti-seizure medication; emergency department access; time-series analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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