PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic had detrimental effects on the mental health of populations, with differing influences on different demographic groups. Varying national countermeasures to the pandemic may have further impacted these effects. This study aimed to explore the effects of the pandemic on dispensed volumes of antidepressants in outpatient settings in different regions of Europe and to assess potential age- and sex-related differences of its impact on incidence of antidepressant dispensing. METHODS: We used descriptive and interrupted time series analyses of pharmacy dispensing data on volumes. For six regions, we analysed volume and incident use stratified by age and sex. RESULTS: During the pandemic, the preexisting long-term trend in unstratified dispensed volumes significantly increased only in Slovenia and Germany and weakened in Scotland and Wales (estimated changes in slope + 0.16, + 0.10, - 0.23, and - 0.68 defined daily doses per thousand inhabitants per day, respectively, for each month). The stratified quarterly analysis revealed the greatest relative increase in females aged 0-17 (+ 64% in Sweden to + 167% in Croatia in the last quarter of 2022 compared with the last quarter of 2019). Both rate of change and difference between sexes were lower in higher age groups. Incidence increased most steeply in females aged 0-17, where the estimated pandemic-related increase explained 11% (Sweden) to 55% (Lombardy) of new patients receiving antidepressants. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate the need to develop targeted mental health supporting measures to increase resilience, especially in young people, and mitigate the impact of potential future public health crises.

• Keywords
• Antidepressants, COVID-19, Cross-national comparison, Drug utilization research, Interrupted time series analysis, Mental health,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Background and Objectives: There is little information on changes in the process and outcomes of intensive tobacco dependence treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following characteristics were evaluated: interest in treatment, the number of face-to-face or telephone follow-ups, the duration of pharmacotherapy use, and the success rate. The aim of our study was to compare the number of patients who entered tobacco dependence treatment programmes and evaluate the one-year success rate in patients three years before and three years after the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: A single-site retrospective cohort study using data from patients treated at the Centre for Tobacco Dependence in Prague, Czech Republic, between 2017 and 2022 (n = 2039) was performed. The one-year abstinence rate was validated by measuring carbon monoxide in exhaled air (6 ppm cut-off). Patients were divided into two groups: the group for which treatment was initiated in 2017-2019 (i.e., before the COVID-19 pandemic, BC; n= 1221) and the group for which treatment was initiated in 2020-2022 (i.e., during the COVID-19 pandemic, DC; n = 818). Results: No significant differences in the success rate of tobacco dependence treatment were found between the two groups (BC group, 40.5% (494/1221) vs. DC group, 42.2% (345/818)) (χ2 (1, N = 2.039) = 0.6, p = 0.440). Furthermore, differences were not found in sex, education level, age at first cigarette, the duration of pharmacotherapy use, or the number of in-person visits. In contrast, there was an increase in the number of telephone contacts between the groups (18.7% (SD = 17.5%) vs. 32.9% (SD = 18.2%), p < 0.001). Conclusions: The number of patients who started treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic decreased by one-third compared to that during the 3-year period before the pandemic. The overall treatment success rate did not change significantly even with the increase in the number of telephone visits with the therapist.

• Keywords
• COVID-19 pandemic, tobacco dependence, treatment,
• MeSH
• COVID-19 * epidemiology   MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Smoking Cessation methods   statistics & numerical data   MeSH
• Pandemics MeSH
• Tobacco Use Disorder * therapy   epidemiology   MeSH
• Retrospective Studies MeSH
• SARS-CoV-2 MeSH
• Treatment Outcome MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Comparative Study MeSH
• Geographicals
• Czech Republic epidemiology   MeSH