Delayed and unmet prescription drug access linked to elevated anxiety symptoms during COVID-19: Retrospective findings from the NLSY79 child and young adult cohort

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic produced substantial challenges to pharmacy systems worldwide and provoked concerns about a wider influence on mental health. While various studies have investigated the relationship between disruptions in access to healthcare and mental health, the effects of delayed and unmet access to prescription drugs on anxiety-related outcomes have been underexamined.

Objective

This study analyzed the impact of delayed and unmet access to prescription drugs on anxiety-related outcomes, including anxiety, inability to stop or control worrying, worrying too much, trouble relaxing, trouble sitting still, being annoyed or irritable, and fear of future events, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A retrospective observational study was performed using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 Child and Young Adult dataset, encompassing 2193 individuals. One-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between access to prescription drugs and anxiety-related symptoms.

Results

The findings show that, before the pandemic, instances of delayed/unable to access prescription drugs were either not linked to anxiety symptoms or, in some cases, were linked to anxiety symptoms but no different than during the pandemic. Delayed access to prescription drugs amid the pandemic was significantly linked with increases in anxiety symptoms not found pre-pandemic, including worrying too much (F = 18.433, p < .001, η²_p = 0.017), trouble relaxing (F = 11.423, p < .001, η²_p = 0.010), and being easily annoyed or irritable (F = 3.881, p = .021, η²_p = 0.004). Similarly, unmet access to prescription drugs amid the pandemic was significantly linked with increases in anxiety-related symptoms not found pre-pandemic, including an inability to stop or control worrying (F = 14.666, p < .001, η²_p = 0.013) and worrying too much (F = 18.433, p < .001, η²_p = 0.017).

Conclusions

These results have implications for pharmacy administrators and policymakers seeking to understand and limit adverse mental health outcomes within pharmacy during times of crisis.