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COVID-19 antivirals utilization: geographic and demographic patterns of treatment in 2022
COVID-19 antivirals utilization: geographic and demographic patterns of treatment in 2022
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Murphy, Stephen J. (Stephen James), author
Samson, Lok Wong, author
Sommers, Benjamin D., author - Contributor(s):
- United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, D.C. : Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, December 23, 2022
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Antiviral Agents -- therapeutic use
COVID-19 Drug Treatment
Drug Utilization -- statistics & numerical data
State Government
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Using IQVIA prescription drug data from January to September 2022, which captures approximately 93% of U.S. community prescriptions and 72% of nursing home prescriptions (projected to represent the full U.S. market) we analyzed monthly patterns of utilization of the new COVID-19 oral antiviral medications Paxlovid and Lagevrio by age group, gender, and state. Utilization of both Paxlovid and Lagevrio rose sharply in the spring of 2022, rising more than tenfold for all age groups between March and July 2022. For both Paxlovid and Lagevrio, the absolute level of utilization per 100,000 people increased steadily with older age. The exception to this pattern is that, for Paxlovid, the 85 and older cohort had a lower rate of utilization than the 75-84 cohort--but still higher than that of the 65-74 cohort. Paxlovid utilization rates per 100,000 people were highest for those in long-term care (LTC) settings, exceeding any population-based age group in retail settings. Lagevrio usage was even more concentrated in LTC settings, where residents may more frequently have contraindications to Paxlovid. Paxlovid represented roughly 90% of overall antiviral prescriptions in September 2022, with Lagevrio representing the other 10%. Lagevrio’s utilization share increases with age, ranging from approximately 7% of prescriptions for adults 18-24, up to 17% in the 85 and older cohort. After combining prescriptions for the two antivirals, total antiviral utilization in the 85 and older cohort remain slightly lower than those for the 75–84-year-olds. We find significant heterogeneity in antiviral utilization by state. Monthly per capita rates of antiviral use in recent months varied by a factor of 4 for Paxlovid and 18 for Lagevrio. As expected, utilization increased in association with higher statewide COVID-19 case rates. For May - September, we estimate that 34.7% of confirmed cases received Paxlovid, and 3.5% received Lagevrio. Paxlovid utilization (but not Lagevrio) was also statistically significantly higher in states with higher vaccination rates. The fact that states with lower vaccine uptake are also utilizing antivirals at lower rates indicates the need for additional efforts to increase awareness and uptake of treatment in these areas, where the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes may be highest.
- Copyright:
- The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (20 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918590888406676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918590888406676