Changes in prescribing of psychotropic vs some physical health medication in primary care through the COVID-19 pandemic in England: a national-level survey

Table 2 Actual average prescriptions/month over the pandemic 2020 and 2021 were compared to the expected based on extrapolation of 2017 to 2019 giving an expected annual growth (EAG) for each class

	Expected annual growth (EAG) %	Expected average prescription/month	Actual average prescription/month	Difference in number patients on medication	% Difference
4.1: Hypnotics and anxiolytics	− 2.3	1,156,294	1,158,535	2242	0.2
4.2: Drugs used in psychoses and related disorders	2.8	1,061,061	1,061,492	431	0.0
4.3 Anti-depressant	5.0	6,747,420	6,733,576	− 13,844	− 0.2
2.12: Lipid-regulating drugs	2.3	6,608,557	6,575,227	− 33,330	− 0.5
2.5: Hypertension and heart failure	1.0	6,204,487	6,098,043	− 106,444	− 1.7
3.1: Bronchodilators	0.1	2,597,517	2,540,615	− 56,902	− 2.2
5.1: Antibacterial drugs	− 1.3	2,616,588	2,288,535	− 328,053	− 12.5

The difference reflects the difference between actual and expected prescriptions

ISSN: 2052-3211