TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 and pregnancy
T2 - A European study on pre- and post-infection medication use
AU - Hurley, Eimir
AU - Geisler, Benjamin P
AU - Lupattelli, Angela
AU - Poblador-Plou, Beatriz
AU - Lassalle, Régis
AU - Jové, Jérémy
AU - Bernard, Marie-Agnes
AU - Sakr, Dunia
AU - Sanfélix-Gimeno, Gabriel
AU - Sánchez-Saez, Francisco
AU - Rodríguez-Bernal, Clara L
AU - Sabaté, Mònica
AU - Ballarín, Elena
AU - Aguilera, Cristina
AU - Jordan, Sue
AU - Thayer, Daniel
AU - Farr, Ian
AU - Ahmed, Saira
AU - Bartolini, Claudia
AU - Limoncella, Giorgio
AU - Paoletti, Olga
AU - Gini, Rosa
AU - Maglanoc, Luigi A
AU - Dudukina, Elena
AU - Ehrenstein, Vera
AU - Alsina, Ema
AU - Vaz, Tiago A
AU - Riera-Arnau, Judit
AU - Sturkenboom, Miriam C J M
AU - Nordeng, Hedvig M E
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/5
Y1 - 2024/5
N2 - PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted medication needs and prescribing practices, including those affecting pregnant women. Our goal was to investigate patterns of medication use among pregnant women with COVID-19, focusing on variations by trimester of infection and location.METHODS: We conducted an observational study using six electronic healthcare databases from six European regions (Aragon/Spain; France; Norway; Tuscany, Italy; Valencia/Spain; and Wales/UK). The prevalence of primary care prescribing or dispensing was compared in the 30-day periods before and after a positive COVID-19 test or diagnosis.RESULTS: The study included 294,126 pregnant women, of whom 8943 (3.0%) tested positive for, or were diagnosed with, COVID-19 during their pregnancy. A significantly higher use of antithrombotic medications was observed particularly after COVID-19 infection in the second and third trimesters. The highest increase was observed in the Valencia region where use of antithrombotic medications in the third trimester increased from 3.8% before COVID-19 to 61.9% after the infection. Increases in other countries were lower; for example, in Norway, the prevalence of antithrombotic medication use changed from around 1-2% before to around 6% after COVID-19 in the third trimester. Smaller and less consistent increases were observed in the use of other drug classes, such as antimicrobials and systemic corticosteroids.CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the substantial impact of COVID-19 on primary care medication use among pregnant women, with a marked increase in the use of antithrombotic medications post-COVID-19. These results underscore the need for further research to understand the broader implications of these patterns on maternal and neonatal/fetal health outcomes.
AB - PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted medication needs and prescribing practices, including those affecting pregnant women. Our goal was to investigate patterns of medication use among pregnant women with COVID-19, focusing on variations by trimester of infection and location.METHODS: We conducted an observational study using six electronic healthcare databases from six European regions (Aragon/Spain; France; Norway; Tuscany, Italy; Valencia/Spain; and Wales/UK). The prevalence of primary care prescribing or dispensing was compared in the 30-day periods before and after a positive COVID-19 test or diagnosis.RESULTS: The study included 294,126 pregnant women, of whom 8943 (3.0%) tested positive for, or were diagnosed with, COVID-19 during their pregnancy. A significantly higher use of antithrombotic medications was observed particularly after COVID-19 infection in the second and third trimesters. The highest increase was observed in the Valencia region where use of antithrombotic medications in the third trimester increased from 3.8% before COVID-19 to 61.9% after the infection. Increases in other countries were lower; for example, in Norway, the prevalence of antithrombotic medication use changed from around 1-2% before to around 6% after COVID-19 in the third trimester. Smaller and less consistent increases were observed in the use of other drug classes, such as antimicrobials and systemic corticosteroids.CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the substantial impact of COVID-19 on primary care medication use among pregnant women, with a marked increase in the use of antithrombotic medications post-COVID-19. These results underscore the need for further research to understand the broader implications of these patterns on maternal and neonatal/fetal health outcomes.
KW - Anti-bacterial agents
KW - Antithrombotic medications
KW - Antiviral agents
KW - COVID-19
KW - Drug utilization study
KW - Pregnancy
KW - Steroids
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85184929234&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00228-024-03639-z
DO - 10.1007/s00228-024-03639-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 38347228
SN - 0031-6970
VL - 80
SP - 707
EP - 716
JO - European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
JF - European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
IS - 5
ER -