The impact of COVID-19 on prescribing of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy for people with unresectable pancreatic cancer in England. A cohort study using OpenSafely-TPP

ABSTRACT

BackgroundCancer treatments were variably disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite UK national guidelines recommending pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy to all people with unresectable pancreatic cancer, observational studies demonstrate under-prescribing. AimTo investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prescribing of pancreatic enzyme replacement to people with unresectable pancreatic cancer. MethodsWith the approval of NHS England, we conducted a cohort study using 24 million health records through the OpenSAFELY-TPP research platform. We modelled the effect of COVID-19 with multivariable linear regression. ResultsWe found no reduction in pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, since 2015, the rates of prescribing increased steadily over time by 1% every year. The national rates ranged from 41% in 2015 to 48% in 2022. There was substantial regional variation. The highest rates of 50% to 60% were in the West Midlands and lowest (20% to 30%) in London. ConclusionsIn contrast to many other treatments, prescribing of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy was not affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although overall rates increased over time, substantial under-prescribing existed at the end of this study (March 2022). At just under 50% in 2022, the rates were still below the recommended 100% standard. Prior work evaluating quality of care in this area relied on manual audits which come at increased cost and reduced frequency of updates. With the methodological advantage of OpenSAFELY, we established an automated audit which allows for regular updates.