Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Initiation of Immunosuppressive Treatment in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases in Austria: A Nationwide Retrospective Study
Objective: Conventional immunosuppressive and advanced targeted therapies, including biological medications and small molecules, are a mainstay in the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID). However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused concerns over these drugs’ safety regarding the risk...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/18/5308 |
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| author | Maximilian Kutschera Valentin Ritschl Berthold Reichardt Tanja Stamm Hans Kiener Harald Maier Walter Reinisch Bernhard Benka Gottfried Novacek |
| author_facet | Maximilian Kutschera Valentin Ritschl Berthold Reichardt Tanja Stamm Hans Kiener Harald Maier Walter Reinisch Bernhard Benka Gottfried Novacek |
| author_sort | Maximilian Kutschera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: Conventional immunosuppressive and advanced targeted therapies, including biological medications and small molecules, are a mainstay in the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID). However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused concerns over these drugs’ safety regarding the risk and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, we aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the initiation of these treatments in 2020. Study Design and Setting: We conducted a population-based retrospective analysis of real-world data of the Austrian health insurance funds on the initiation of conventional immunosuppressive and advanced targeted therapies. The primary objective was to compare the initiation of these medications in the year 2020 with the period 2017 to 2019. Initiation rates of medication were calculated by comparing a certain unit of time with an average of the previous ones. Results: 95,573 patients were included. During the first lockdown in Austria in April 2020, there was a significant decrease in the initiations of conventional immunosuppressives and advanced targeted therapies compared to previous years (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). From May 2020 onwards, numbers rapidly re-achieved pre-lockdown levels despite higher SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and subsequent lockdown periods at the end of 2020. Independent from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a continuous increase of starts of advanced targeted therapies and a continuous decrease of conventional immunosuppressants during the observation period were observed. Conclusions: In IMID patients, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant decrease of newly started conventional immunosuppressive and advanced targeted therapies only during the first lockdown in Austria. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:36:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-082eda6869f04040b46a89021fae5590 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0383 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:36:38Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-082eda6869f04040b46a89021fae55902023-11-23T16:58:31ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832022-09-011118530810.3390/jcm11185308Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Initiation of Immunosuppressive Treatment in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases in Austria: A Nationwide Retrospective StudyMaximilian Kutschera0Valentin Ritschl1Berthold Reichardt2Tanja Stamm3Hans Kiener4Harald Maier5Walter Reinisch6Bernhard Benka7Gottfried Novacek8Department of Internal Medicine III, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaInstitute of Outcomes Research, Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaAustrian Health Insurance Fund, 7000 Eisenstadt, AustriaInstitute of Outcomes Research, Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Internal Medicine III, Division of Rheumatology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Internal Medicine III, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaAGES—Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety Ltd., Division of Public Health, 1220 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Internal Medicine III, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaObjective: Conventional immunosuppressive and advanced targeted therapies, including biological medications and small molecules, are a mainstay in the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID). However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused concerns over these drugs’ safety regarding the risk and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, we aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the initiation of these treatments in 2020. Study Design and Setting: We conducted a population-based retrospective analysis of real-world data of the Austrian health insurance funds on the initiation of conventional immunosuppressive and advanced targeted therapies. The primary objective was to compare the initiation of these medications in the year 2020 with the period 2017 to 2019. Initiation rates of medication were calculated by comparing a certain unit of time with an average of the previous ones. Results: 95,573 patients were included. During the first lockdown in Austria in April 2020, there was a significant decrease in the initiations of conventional immunosuppressives and advanced targeted therapies compared to previous years (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). From May 2020 onwards, numbers rapidly re-achieved pre-lockdown levels despite higher SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and subsequent lockdown periods at the end of 2020. Independent from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a continuous increase of starts of advanced targeted therapies and a continuous decrease of conventional immunosuppressants during the observation period were observed. Conclusions: In IMID patients, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant decrease of newly started conventional immunosuppressive and advanced targeted therapies only during the first lockdown in Austria.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/18/5308Immune-mediated inflammatory diseasesconventional immunosuppressive treatmentadvanced targeted therapyinflammatory bowel diseaserheumatoid arthritispsoriasis |
| spellingShingle | Maximilian Kutschera Valentin Ritschl Berthold Reichardt Tanja Stamm Hans Kiener Harald Maier Walter Reinisch Bernhard Benka Gottfried Novacek Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Initiation of Immunosuppressive Treatment in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases in Austria: A Nationwide Retrospective Study Journal of Clinical Medicine Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases conventional immunosuppressive treatment advanced targeted therapy inflammatory bowel disease rheumatoid arthritis psoriasis |
| title | Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Initiation of Immunosuppressive Treatment in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases in Austria: A Nationwide Retrospective Study |
| title_full | Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Initiation of Immunosuppressive Treatment in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases in Austria: A Nationwide Retrospective Study |
| title_fullStr | Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Initiation of Immunosuppressive Treatment in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases in Austria: A Nationwide Retrospective Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Initiation of Immunosuppressive Treatment in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases in Austria: A Nationwide Retrospective Study |
| title_short | Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Initiation of Immunosuppressive Treatment in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases in Austria: A Nationwide Retrospective Study |
| title_sort | impact of covid 19 pandemic on initiation of immunosuppressive treatment in immune mediated inflammatory diseases in austria a nationwide retrospective study |
| topic | Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases conventional immunosuppressive treatment advanced targeted therapy inflammatory bowel disease rheumatoid arthritis psoriasis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/11/18/5308 |
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