Hydroxychloroquine availability during COVID-19 crisis and its effect on patient anxiety

Objective To report the results of a survey exploring the experience of patients with SLE facing hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) shortage that occurred during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods A survey was designed by Lupus Europe’s patient advisory network and distributed through its socia...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alain Cornet, Chiara Tani, Marta Mosca, Jeanette Andersen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2021-04-01
Series:Lupus Science and Medicine
Online Access:https://lupus.bmj.com/content/8/1/e000496.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846119863685218304
author Alain Cornet
Chiara Tani
Marta Mosca
Jeanette Andersen
author_facet Alain Cornet
Chiara Tani
Marta Mosca
Jeanette Andersen
author_sort Alain Cornet
collection DOAJ
description Objective To report the results of a survey exploring the experience of patients with SLE facing hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) shortage that occurred during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods A survey was designed by Lupus Europe’s patient advisory network and distributed through its social media, newsflash and members' network. People with lupus were asked about their last HCQ purchases and their level of anxiety (on a 0–10 scale) with regard to not being able to have access to HCQ, once in April 2020 (first wave) and after 11 August (second wave). The results were compared.Results 2075 patients responded during the first wave; 1001 (48.2%) could get HCQ from the first place they asked, 230 (11.1%) could get the drug by going to more than one pharmacy, 498 (24.0%) obtained HCQ later from their usual pharmacy and 126 (6.1%) from other sources. 188 (9.1%) could not get any; 32 (1.5%) did not respond to this question. All countries showed significant improvement in HCQ availability during the second wave. 562 (27.4%) patients reported an extremely high level of anxiety in wave 1 and 162 (10.3%) patients in wave 2; 589 (28.7%) and 268 (17.1%) patients reported a high level of anxiety in wave 1 and wave 2, respectively.Conclusions The HCQ shortage had a significant impact on patients with SLE and has been responsible for psychological consequences including anxiety. Indeed, despite an objective improvement in drug availability, the event is leaving significant traces in patients’ mind and behaviours.
format Article
id doaj-art-b925a96d1bca47c59c9a17687145a08a
institution Kabale University
issn 2053-8790
language English
publishDate 2021-04-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series Lupus Science and Medicine
spelling doaj-art-b925a96d1bca47c59c9a17687145a08a2024-12-16T17:50:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupLupus Science and Medicine2053-87902021-04-018110.1136/lupus-2021-000496Hydroxychloroquine availability during COVID-19 crisis and its effect on patient anxietyAlain Cornet0Chiara Tani1Marta Mosca2Jeanette Andersen3Lupus Europe, brussels, Belgium2 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, ItalyUniversity of Pisa, Pisa, ItalyLupus Europe, Romford, UKObjective To report the results of a survey exploring the experience of patients with SLE facing hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) shortage that occurred during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods A survey was designed by Lupus Europe’s patient advisory network and distributed through its social media, newsflash and members' network. People with lupus were asked about their last HCQ purchases and their level of anxiety (on a 0–10 scale) with regard to not being able to have access to HCQ, once in April 2020 (first wave) and after 11 August (second wave). The results were compared.Results 2075 patients responded during the first wave; 1001 (48.2%) could get HCQ from the first place they asked, 230 (11.1%) could get the drug by going to more than one pharmacy, 498 (24.0%) obtained HCQ later from their usual pharmacy and 126 (6.1%) from other sources. 188 (9.1%) could not get any; 32 (1.5%) did not respond to this question. All countries showed significant improvement in HCQ availability during the second wave. 562 (27.4%) patients reported an extremely high level of anxiety in wave 1 and 162 (10.3%) patients in wave 2; 589 (28.7%) and 268 (17.1%) patients reported a high level of anxiety in wave 1 and wave 2, respectively.Conclusions The HCQ shortage had a significant impact on patients with SLE and has been responsible for psychological consequences including anxiety. Indeed, despite an objective improvement in drug availability, the event is leaving significant traces in patients’ mind and behaviours.https://lupus.bmj.com/content/8/1/e000496.full
spellingShingle Alain Cornet
Chiara Tani
Marta Mosca
Jeanette Andersen
Hydroxychloroquine availability during COVID-19 crisis and its effect on patient anxiety
Lupus Science and Medicine
title Hydroxychloroquine availability during COVID-19 crisis and its effect on patient anxiety
title_full Hydroxychloroquine availability during COVID-19 crisis and its effect on patient anxiety
title_fullStr Hydroxychloroquine availability during COVID-19 crisis and its effect on patient anxiety
title_full_unstemmed Hydroxychloroquine availability during COVID-19 crisis and its effect on patient anxiety
title_short Hydroxychloroquine availability during COVID-19 crisis and its effect on patient anxiety
title_sort hydroxychloroquine availability during covid 19 crisis and its effect on patient anxiety
url https://lupus.bmj.com/content/8/1/e000496.full
work_keys_str_mv AT alaincornet hydroxychloroquineavailabilityduringcovid19crisisanditseffectonpatientanxiety
AT chiaratani hydroxychloroquineavailabilityduringcovid19crisisanditseffectonpatientanxiety
AT martamosca hydroxychloroquineavailabilityduringcovid19crisisanditseffectonpatientanxiety
AT jeanetteandersen hydroxychloroquineavailabilityduringcovid19crisisanditseffectonpatientanxiety