Implications of COVID-19 Infection on Medication Adherence with Chronic Therapies in Italy: A Proposed Observational Investigation by the Fail-to-Refill Project

Figures & data

Figure 1 Percentage of failed refill of lipid-lowering therapies prior to COVID-19 outbreak and in the first months afterwards (highlighted in red boxes).

Notes: ATC code of treatment analysed: C10A and C10B.

Figure 2 Percentage of failed refill of biologic therapies prior to COVID-19 outbreak and in the first months afterwards (highlighted in red boxes).

Notes: The analysis referred to patients treated with biologic therapies indicated for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn’s disease, ATC code: L04AA24, L04AA33, L04AB01, L04AB02, L04AB04, L04AB05, L04AB06, L04AC03, L04AC05, L04AC07, L04AC08, L04AC10.

Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of Patients Included in the Preliminary Analysis Belonging to (a) Lipid-Lowering and (b) Biological Therapies

	2017	2018	2019	2020
(a) Lipid-lowering therapy
N	401,523	415,749	431,892	389,191
Male, n (%)	197,212 (49.1)	204,246 (49.1)	212,001 (49.1)	192,533 (49.5)
Age range (years), n (%)
≤ 45	13,923 (3.5)	14,128 (3.4)	14,267 (3.3)	10,064 (2.6)
46–65	131,153 (32.6)	135,558 (32.6)	141,105 (32.6)	120,134 (30.9)
66–75	131,267 (32.7)	134,560 (32.4)	138,898 (32.2)	128,640 (33.0)
>75	125,180 (31.2)	131,503 (31.6)	137,622 (31.9)	130,353 (33.5)
(b) Biologic therapy
N	1420	1515	1708	1627
Male, n (%)	674 (45.6)	743 (49.0)	847 (49.6)	820
Age range (years), n (%)
≤ 45	444 (31.3)	460 (30.4)	500 (29.3)	478 (29.4)
46–65	737 (51.9)	804 (53.1)	916 (53.6)	858 (52.7)
66–75	185 (13.0)	184 (12.1)	215 (12.6)	222 (13.6)
>75	54 (3.8)	67 (4.4)	77 (4.5)	69 (4.2)
Psoriasis*, n (%)	774 (54.5)	865 (57)	980 (57.4)	922 (56.7)
Rheumatoid arthritis*, n (%)	460 (32.4)	468 (30.9)	477 (27.9)	440 (27)
Crohn’s disease* n (%)	256 (18)	252 (16.6)	322 (18.8)	321 (19.7)

Note: *Not mutually exclusive.

Table 2 Proportion of Patients That Failed to Refill (a) Lipid-Lowering and (b) Biologic Therapies Stratified by Age Range

Age Range	≤ 45 years				46–65				66–75				>75 years
	2017	2018	2019	2020	2017	2018	2019	2020	2017	2018	2019	2020	2017	2018	2019	2020
(a) Lipid-lowering drugs
January (%)	44.6	42.3	41.4	43	37.3	36	35.1	35.5	35.1	33.3	32.5	32.5	37.1	35.7	34.8	34.6
February (%)	48.2	47.9	48.1	48.4	40.8	40.9	40.8	40.3	37.1	37.5	36.8	36.3	39.3	39.1	38.4	38
March (%)	43.6	43.2	47.9	42.8	36.7	37.1	40.2	35.1	33.8	33.7	37.3	31.1	35.3	35.7	38.7	32.4
April (%)	50.1	49.7	52.1	49.9	44	42.3	43.1	43.3	39.1	37.8	38.4	41	40.9	40.2	39.7	42.7
May (%)	44.8	44.5	45	48.6	36	36.2	36.4	43.4	32.6	31.9	32.9	41.1	34.2	34	34.7	42.7
June (%)	44.3	45.5	49.3	48.1	37.1	38.6	41	41.5	34.3	34.8	37.2	38.2	35.7	36.7	38.5	39.8
July (%)	45.5	45.7	45		38.6	37.7	37.1		37	35	34.7		38.1	37	36.2
August (%)	53.1	53.1	56.5		46.4	47.2	49.5		44	45	47		45.3	45.6	48
September (%)	46.5	48.2	47.6		41.5	43.3	41.8		38.9	40.3	39		41	42.6	40.8
October (%)	45.7	45.2	47.6		38.7	38.4	38.9		35.3	35.3	35.5		37.5	37.2	37.4
November (%)	44.6	44.7	46.8		37.4	38.3	40.2		34.4	34.7	37		36.2	36.8	39.1
December (%)	47.9	48.9	49		41	42.7	41.9		37.8	39.3	38.3		39.8	41.3	40.2
(b) Biologic therapies
January (%)	49.5	34.1	38.2	35.6	40.9	34.6	30.2	36.5	43.2	34.2	29.3	25.2	47.1	25	29.4	35.7
February (%)	39.3	30.8	25.9	33	38.1	28.8	27.6	31.6	39.1	20.2	29.9	32.3	40	28.6	25	27.3
March (%)	28.5	36.3	27.1	26.6	31.3	27.3	30.2	28.7	30.8	28.8	26.4	21.4	22.2	23.7	18.9	33.3
April (%)	34	36.8	36.4	30.9	30.6	33.9	38.6	31.5	25.5	25	30.6	36	40	34.2	35	46.7
May (%)	28.4	38.1	28.1	38.3	29.5	32.4	33.9	38.1	21.6	28.3	31.7	37.5	45.5	29	30.3	33.3
June (%)	34.7	24.3	29.7	41	31.2	29.7	33.6	40.5	34.4	20.4	31.5	28	21.1	21.1	28.6	34.5
July (%)	25.5	33.3	26.7		27.5	32.1	30.4		25.3	32	24.1		26.7	39.4	33.3
August (%)	58.5	53	47.5		59	46.3	48.9		50	38.8	42		43.5	37.8	39.3
September (%)	36.7	28.4	28.5		31.6	26.6	33.6		29	35.9	25.2		23.8	41.9	21.2
October (%)	34.8	29.8	41.9		31.4	26.3	35.5		29.5	30.8	35		24.2	18.4	26.5
November (%)	34.7	30.9	36.9		30.9	27.3	31.1		37.1	33	23.1		25	38.9	18.9
December (%)	35.3	41.6	35.8		33.1	42.4	33.9		29.1	33.7	35		31.3	31.4	34.6

Note: The cells referring to post-COVID-19 period are in bold.