COVID-19 restrictions and the incidence and prevalence of prescription
opioid use in Australia -- a nation-wide study
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted seeking and delivery of healthcare.
Different Australian jurisdictions implemented different COVID-19
restrictions. We used Australian national pharmacy dispensing data to
conduct interrupted time series analyses to examine the incidence and
prevalence of opioid dispensing in different jurisdictions. Following
nationwide COVID-19 restrictions, the opioid incidence dropped by -0.40
[-0.50, -0.31], -0.33 [-0.46, -0.21] and -0.21 [-0.37,
-0.04] /1000 people/week and prevalence dropped by -0.85 [-1.39,
-0.31], -0.54 [-1.01, -0.07] and -0.62 [-0.99, -0.25] /1000
people/week in Victoria, New South Wales and other jurisdictions,
respectively. Incidence and prevalence increased by 0.29 [0.13,
0.44] and 0.72 [0.11, 1.33] /1000 people/week, respectively in
Victoria post-lockdown; no significant changes were observed in other
jurisdictions. No significant changes were observed in the initiation of
long-term opioid use in any jurisdictions. More stringent restrictions
coincided with more pronounced reductions in overall opioid initiation,
but initiation of long-term opioid use did not change.