IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v204y2022icp1-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Adherence during COVID-19: The role of aging and socio-economics status in shaping drug utilization

Author

Listed:
  • Di Novi, Cinzia
  • Leporatti, Lucia
  • Levaggi, Rosella
  • Montefiori, Marcello

Abstract

Our study investigates the potential impact that COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions may have had on drug utilization and the role of patient age and education in reshaping it. We focused on patients affected by diabetes mellitus, who are likely to suffer a higher degree of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. We used a bi-monthly administrative panel dataset from January 2019 to December 2020 from Liguria (Italy), one of the regions with the highest number of individuals over the age of 65 in Europe. The results demonstrated that, after the initial shock, when patients tried to increase their personal stock of drugs to overcome the risk of possible additional barriers generated by the coronavirus, the hoarding effect almost disappeared. Adherence has drastically reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and has never reached pre-COVID levels again. Older and poorly educated patients seem to have suffered more from the restrictions imposed by the lockdown and fear of contagion and they may be the ideal target group when considering possible policy interventions to improve adherence.

Suggested Citation

  • Di Novi, Cinzia & Leporatti, Lucia & Levaggi, Rosella & Montefiori, Marcello, 2022. "Adherence during COVID-19: The role of aging and socio-economics status in shaping drug utilization," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:204:y:2022:i:c:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.10.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268122003638
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2022.10.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brugiavini, Agar & Di Novi, Cinzia & Orso, Cristina Elisa, 2022. "Visiting parents in times of COVID-19: The impact of parent-adult child contacts on the psychological health of the elderly," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    2. Martin Gaynor & Jian Li & William B. Vogt, 2006. "Is Drug Coverage a Free Lunch? Cross-Price Elasticities and the Design of Prescription Drug Benefits," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 07/166, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    3. Domenico Depalo, 2020. "Explaining the causal effect of adherence to medication on cholesterol through the marginal patient," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(S1), pages 110-126, October.
    4. Péter Elek & Anikó Bíró & Petra Fadgyas‐Freyler, 2021. "Income gradient of pharmaceutical panic buying at the outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2312-2320, September.
    5. Hilbe,Joseph M., 2014. "Modeling Count Data," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107028333, November.
    6. Vincenzo Atella & Federico Belotti & Domenico Depalo, 2017. "Drug therapy adherence and health outcomes in the presence of physician and patient unobserved heterogeneity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S2), pages 106-126, September.
    7. Leporatti Lucia & Montefiori Marcello, 2020. "The Challenge of Organizing Elderly Care Programmes: Optimal Policy Design under Complete and Asymmetric Information," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, January.
    8. Grace Chua & Kum Fai Yuen & Xueqin Wang & Yiik Diew Wong, 2021. "The Determinants of Panic Buying during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-28, March.
    9. Mei‐ling Sheu & Teh‐wei Hu & Theodore E. Keeler & Michael Ong & Hai‐Yen Sung, 2004. "The effect of a major cigarette price change on smoking behavior in california: a zero‐inflated negative binomial model," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(8), pages 781-791, August.
    10. Sergei Koulayev & Emilia Simeonova & Niels Skipper, 2017. "Can Physicians Affect Patient Adherence With Medication?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(6), pages 779-794, June.
    11. Jeffrey Clement & Maura Jacobi & Brad N Greenwood, 2021. "Patient access to chronic medications during the Covid-19 pandemic: Evidence from a comprehensive dataset of US insurance claims," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-13, April.
    12. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    13. Pietro Folino-Gallo & Simona Montilla & Mario Bruzzone & Nello Martini, 2008. "Pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceuticals in Italy," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 9(3), pages 305-310, August.
    14. Tammy Harris & Joseph M. Hilbe & James W. Hardin, 2014. "Modeling count data with generalized distributions," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 14(3), pages 562-579, September.
    15. Papke, Leslie E. & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2008. "Panel data methods for fractional response variables with an application to test pass rates," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1-2), pages 121-133, July.
    16. repec:wly:hlthec:v:26:y:2017:i::p:106-126 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Katharina E. Blankart & Frank R. Lichtenberg, 2020. "Are patients more adherent to newer drugs?," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 605-618, December.
    18. Lucia Leporatti & Rosella Levaggi & Marcello Montefiori, 2021. "Beyond price: the effects of non-financial barriers on access to drugs and health outcomes," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(4), pages 519-529, June.
    19. Daniele Checchi, 2000. "University education in Italy," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(3/4), pages 177-205, May.
    20. Rabia Khan & Karolina Socha-Dietrich, 2018. "Investing in medication adherence improves health outcomes and health system efficiency: Adherence to medicines for diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidaemia," OECD Health Working Papers 105, OECD Publishing.
    21. William H. Greene, 1994. "Accounting for Excess Zeros and Sample Selection in Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression Models," Working Papers 94-10, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    22. Papke, Leslie E & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M, 1996. "Econometric Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to 401(K) Plan Participation Rates," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(6), pages 619-632, Nov.-Dec..
    23. Costa-Font, Joan & Rudisill, Caroline & Tan, Stefanie, 2014. "Brand loyalty, patients and limited generic medicines uptake," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 224-233.
    24. Cinzia Di Novi & Lucia Leporatti & Marcello Montefiori, 2020. "Older patients and geographic barriers to pharmacy access: When nonadherence translates to an increased use of other components of health care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(S1), pages 97-109, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lucia Leporatti & Rosella Levaggi & Marcello Montefiori, 2021. "Beyond price: the effects of non-financial barriers on access to drugs and health outcomes," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(4), pages 519-529, June.
    2. Costa-Font, Joan & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2022. "Health shocks and housing downsizing: How persistent is ‘ageing in place’?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 490-508.
    3. Baccini, Leonardo & Impullitti, Giammario & Malesky, Edmund J., 2019. "Globalization and state capitalism: Assessing Vietnam's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 75-92.
    4. Reboul, E. & Guérin, I. & Nordman, C.J., 2021. "The gender of debt and credit: Insights from rural Tamil Nadu," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    5. Andries, Petra & Hünermund, Paul, 2020. "Firm-level effects of staged investments in innovation: The moderating role of resource availability," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    6. Nirup Menon & Anant Mishra & Shun Ye, 2020. "Beyond Related Experience: Upstream vs. Downstream Experience in Innovation Contest Platforms with Interdependent Problem Domains," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1045-1065, September.
    7. Joan Costa‐Font & Rosella Levaggi, 2020. "Innovation, aging, and health care: Unraveling “silver” from “red” herrings?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(S1), pages 3-7, October.
    8. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2023. "Simple approaches to nonlinear difference-in-differences with panel data," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 26(3), pages 31-66.
    9. Tadashi Ito & Michael Ryan & Ayumu Tanaka, 2024. "FDI, financial constraint and partial ownership," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7), pages 2789-2827, July.
    10. Giachello, Marta & Leporatti, Lucia & Levaggi, Rosella & Montefiori, Marcello, 2024. "The illness trap: The impact of disability benefits on willingness to receive HCV treatment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    11. Kristensen, Soren Rud & Bech, Mickael & Lauridsen, Jørgen T, 2013. "Who to pay for performance? The choice of organisational level for hospital performance incentives," DaCHE discussion papers 2013:5, University of Southern Denmark, Dache - Danish Centre for Health Economics.
    12. Cinzia Di Novi & Lucia Leporatti & Marcello Montefiori, 2020. "Older patients and geographic barriers to pharmacy access: When nonadherence translates to an increased use of other components of health care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(S1), pages 97-109, October.
    13. Philippe Bacchetta & Ouarda Merrouche, 2022. "Countercyclical Foreign Currency Borrowing: Eurozone Firms in 2007–09," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 54(1), pages 203-245, February.
    14. Alessandro Barattieri & Matteo Cacciatore, 2023. "Self-Harming Trade Policy? Protectionism and Production Networks," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 97-128, April.
    15. Nicole M. Mason & Thomas S. Jayne & Nicolas van de Walle, 2017. "The Political Economy of Fertilizer Subsidy Programs in Africa: Evidence from Zambia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(3), pages 705-731.
    16. Wu, Jiang & Ou, Guiyan & Liu, Xiaohui & Dong, Ke, 2022. "How does academic education background affect top researchers’ performance? Evidence from the field of artificial intelligence," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    17. Céline Nauges & Jon Strand, 2017. "Water Hauling and Girls’ School Attendance: Some New Evidence from Ghana," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(1), pages 65-88, January.
    18. Leila Bengali & Mary C. Daly & Olivia Lofton & Robert G. Valletta, 2021. "The Economic Status of People with Disabilities and Their Families since the Great Recession," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 695(1), pages 123-142, May.
    19. Nicholas Sly & Caroline Weber, 2015. "Global tax policy and the synchronization of business cycles," Research Working Paper RWP 15-7, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    20. Ligthart, Jenny E. & Werner, Sebastian E.V., 2012. "Has the euro affected the choice of invoicing currency?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1551-1573.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Adherence; Older adults; COVID-19; Chronic conditions; Drug access;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:204:y:2022:i:c:p:1-14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.