February 22, 2023
One Health Trust researchers collaborated to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related infection prevention measures on trends in antibiotic prescribing in the United States. For every one percent increase in county-level monthly COVID-19 cases, there was an associated 0.009 percent increase in prescriptions dispensed per 100,000 people. Outpatient antibiotic prescriptions were positively correlated with monthly COVID-19 cases; however, this association was negative for children, likely due to widespread school closures and decreased transmission of other common upper respiratory infections. The primary predictor of county-level prescribing trends was prescribing rates in previous years, emphasizing the important role of behavioral norms in inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.
Find the article, “COVID-19 and Outpatient Antibiotic Prescriptions in the United States: A County-level Analysis,” published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases here.
