Omicron wave during December 2022 – January 2023: access to pharmaceuticals and healthcare resources and impacts on health outcomes in Shenzhen, China

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This study described pharmaceutical and medical resource accessibility of COVID-19 treatment in Shenzhen, China during the peak of COVID-19 infection from December 2022 to January 2023, and examined its influence on clinical outcomes.

Methods

We surveyed Shenzhen residents on COVID-19-related topics using electronic questionnaires. We conducted descriptive statistical analyses and multiple regressions including logistic and Tobit models to explore the impacts of resource constraints on patient outcomes. Resource utilisation and attempts to seek medical care were also described for severity-stratified subgroups.

Results

76.8% of respondents reported experiencing COVID-19 symptoms between December 7, 2022 and January 29, 2023. Of those who attempted to purchase medication, 72.8% reported drug shortage. 49% of those seeking medical treatment experienced difficulties. Compared with those who did not experience drug shortages, those who did had an odds ratio of 1.959 (95% CI: 1.159 ∼3.313) of presenting with moderate to severe symptoms. Compared with those without difficulties in seeking medical treatment, those who did had an average of 0.39 (95% CI: 0.110 ∼0.670) more days absent from work.

Conclusion

Shenzhen residents with COVID-19 symptoms from December 2022 to January 2023 experienced a certain degree of pharmaceutical and medical resource constraints, which might have compromised their prognosis.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• medication
• medical resource accessibility
• omicron

Acknowledgement

The authors sincerely thank each respondent of the study and the researchers who participated in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University [no. 2023(10)]. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Authors’ contributions

JC conducted literature review, analysed the data, wrote the manuscript and contributed to data collection. HF contributed to data collection and assisted with data analysis. JS contributed to data collection. YJ conceptualised and designed the study, was in charge of the overall study implementation, and contributed to the revision of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability

The datasets generated or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to the protection of the participants’ privacy, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2021A1515220170).

Notes on contributors

Jiayue Chen

Jiayue Chen, a graduate student at the School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University. He has skills and expertise in public health, health and pharmacoeconomics.

Haisu Feng

Haisu Feng, a graduate student at the School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University. She has skills and expertise in health and pharmacoeconomics.

Jiatong Sun

Jiatong Sun, a graduate student at the School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University. He has skills and expertise in real-world studies, health and pharmacoeconomics.

Yawen Jiang

Yawen Jiang, Ph.D., an associate professor at the School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University. She has skills and expertise in health and pharmacoeconomics, health insurance, real-world evidence, applied econometrics, and pharmacoepidemiology.