AUTHOR=Escalante Saavedra Pamela Alejandra , Galato Dayani , de Souza Silva Calliandra Maria , Rodrigues da Silva Izabel Cristina , da Silva Emília Vitoria 

TITLE=Dispensing of psychotropic drugs in the Brazilian capital city before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2018–2020)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.1028233

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2022.1028233

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objective:</bold> Evaluate the data on the psychotropic drugs dispensed by private community pharmacies before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> This cross-sectional study compared the quarterly and annual consumption of psychotropic drugs per Defined Daily Dose per 1000 inhabitants-day (DHD). Interrupted time series were also constructed to expose changes in the consumption pattern in the periods before and after March 2020.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Among the 20 most consumed psychoactive drugs, 12 were antidepressants, for example, escitalopram (DHD 7.996 and 10.626; <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), and sertraline (DHD 6.321 and 8.484; <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), in addition to the hypnotic zolpidem (DHD 6.202 and 8.526; <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). The time series reveals (<italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup> value) a variation in drug dispensing, in DHD values, during the pandemic.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Despite the higher variance, a significant increase is clearly seen in the consumption trends of psychoactive drugs, particularly antidepressants, consistent with the pandemic’s influence on the general population’s mental health.</p>