Prospective study of policies and use of therapies for COVID‐19 among Australian health services during 2020. Issue 2 (20th February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smith, Emma L.; Gwee, Amanda; Roberts, Jason A.; Molton, James S.; Wurzel, Danielle; Hughes, Carly M.; Rogers, Benjamin A.
• Is Part Of: Internal medicine journal. Volume 52:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 214
• Page End: 222
• Publication Date: 2022-02-20
• Subjects: therapeutics -- SARS‐CoV‐2 -- policy -- COVID‐19 -- Australia; Medicine -- Periodicals; 616
• DOI: 10.1111/imj.15510
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1444-0903

Abstract

Abstract: 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: To longitudinally study policies and prescribing practices pertaining to therapies for COVID‐19 in Australian health services during 2020. Methods: Prospective data were 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 (34/39; 87%) of respondents located in a major city. 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.