The impact of COVID-19 on chronic therapies: the Pescara (ASL) Local Health Authority experience in Italy

INTRODUCTION At this time in history fraught with restrictions and issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the care and management of chronic therapies is a major concern for society. The objective of the following study was to assess whether adherence and persistence in patients treated with hypoglycaemic drugs and statins during 2020 changed in comparison with pre-pandemic years. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective study was conducted, taking into account the drugs dispensed at pharmacies in the territory of the ASL (Local Heath Authority) of Pescara from January 1, 2011 to December 2020 of all patients treated with ATC A10B (hypoglycaemic group) and ATC C10A (statin group). Adherence was calculated using the Proportion of days covered (PDC) method. Persistence to treatment was calculated as the difference in days between the start and end of therapy. RESULTS A total of 12030 patients treated with hypoglycaemic drugs and 19699 with statins were analysed. Adherence data ranged from values of 0.79 and 0.75 in 2012 to 0.92 and 0.79 in 2020 for the hypoglycaemic group and statin group, respectively. Persistence curves stratified by year showed a statistically significant difference for both groups under analysis (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS The adherence figure did not change much, unlike the persistence figure. In fact, during 2020, the great impact that COVID-19 had on follow-up visits, on the availability of drugs, and on the difficulty of access to health facilities resulted in chronic patients abandoning therapy.