Oral Corticosteroid Abuse and Self-Prescription in Italy: A Perspective from Community Pharmacists and Sales Reports before and during the COVID-19 Era

Abstract

(1) Background: Corticosteroids are commonly used for a variety of conditions, but their use might come with significant side effects. Self-medication practices increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially favoring corticosteroid misuse. Studies on this topic are lacking, thus we aim to characterize the misuse of corticosteroids in Italy through pharmacists’ perspectives and sales reports. (2) Methods: We sent to territorial pharmacists a survey that aimed to investigate corticosteroid misuse before and during the pandemic. In parallel, sales reports of the major oral corticosteroids were obtained from IQVIA. (3) Results: We found that 34.8% of clients demanded systemic corticosteroids without a valid prescription, with a rise to 43.9% during the pandemic (p < 0.001). Adults and patients suffering from upper airway diseases or obstructive airway diseases most frequently asked for corticosteroids without an appropriate prescription. The greatest increase after the beginning of the pandemic was seen for lung diseases. Although sales of the major oral corticosteroids decreased during the pandemic, sales of those used for COVID-19 increased. (4) Conclusions: Self-medication with corticosteroids is common and might lead to avoidable toxicities. This tendency increased during the pandemic probably because of incorrect beliefs about the inappropriate use of corticosteroids for treating COVID-19 itself. The development of shared strategies between doctors and pharmacists is essential in defining protocols guiding appropriate patient referral in order to minimize corticosteroid misuse.