Prospective study of policies and use of therapies for COVID ‐19 among Australian health services during 2020

Autor: EL Smith, Jason A. Roberts, D Wurzel, CM Hughes, Amanda Gwee, Benjamin A. Rogers, JS Molton
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Internal Medicine Journal
ISSN: 1445-5994
1444-0903
DOI: 10.1111/imj.15510
Popis: Background The COVID‐19 pandemic has generated significant debate about how emerging infections can be treated in the absence of evidence‐based therapies to combat disease. In particular, the use of off‐label therapies outside of a clinical trial setting has been controversial. Aim We aimed to longitudinally study policies and prescribing practices pertaining to therapies for COVID‐19 in Australian Health Services in 2020. Methods Prospective data was collected from participating Australian health services who may care for patients with COVID‐19 via an electronic portal. A single informant from each health service was emailed a survey link at regular intervals. Information was sought regarding changes to COVID‐19 policy at their service and use of therapies for COVID‐19. Results Overall, 78 hospitals were represented from 39 respondents with longitudinal data collection from May to December 2020. All Australian states/territories were represented with the majority of respondents located in a major city (34/39; 87%). Just over half (20/39) of respondents had a written policy for COVID‐19 therapy use at their health service at survey enrolment and policies changed frequently throughout the pandemic. Therapy use outside of a clinical trial was reported in 54% of health services, most frequently in Victoria, correlating with higher numbers of COVID‐19 cases. At study commencement hydroxychloroquine was most frequently used, with corticosteroids and remdesivir use increasingly throughout the study period. Conclusion Our results reflect the reactive nature of prescribing of therapies for COVID‐19 and highlight the importance of evidence‐based guidelines to assist prescribers. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: