A pharmacy in October 2020 (illustrative image).

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Ludovic MARIN / AFP

During the second confinement, the consumption of tranquilizers and sleeping pills remained up from 5% to 8%, explained the Medicines Agency and Health Insurance, in a study published on Wednesday.

This increase "probably reflects the significant psychological impact of the Covid-19 epidemic and its social, professional and economic consequences", state the ANSM and the CNAM in the 5th part of their Epi-Phare study on the evolution of drug use since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic.

A "storage phenomenon"

Between October 26 and November 8, the delivery in pharmacies of anxiolytic drugs was 5.9% higher than the expected level, estimated on the basis of sales for the two previous years, note the two organizations.

Over the next two weeks, this increase even reached 7.6%.

Regarding hypnotic or sedative drugs, the increase was 5.1% and 6.7% respectively over these same periods.

Antidepressants register a more moderate increase (+ 1.4% and + 3.3%)

During the first confinement, anxiolytics and sedatives, like many other drugs, experienced a "storage phenomenon", followed by "underuse" in the following weeks.

Their delivery was then always higher than the level of previous years (from +1% to + 14% depending on the week), except in the second half of August, shows the study.

Delayed diagnoses

This also confirms the "very sharp decrease in the delivery and use of products which require administration by a health professional, such as vaccines and products for medical diagnostic procedures".

The "collapse" observed during the first confinement "has not been made up to date and the delay will not be able to be made up in 2020", warn the CNAM and the ANSM.

In particular, "the drop in the consumption of products for medical imaging diagnostics, essential for diagnosing certain cancers or serious diseases on the rise" raises fears of "significant delays in treatment" in oncology and in other specialties.

This monitoring, intended in particular to detect possible dysfunctions in the use of health professionals for care not linked to Covid-19, "will be continued until a return to a normalized situation".

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  • Psychology

  • Covid 19

  • Health

  • Drug

  • Confinement

  • Coronavirus