Drug use patterns in COVID-19 patients: A retrospective survey 2021–2022

This retrospective survey examines drug use patterns in COVID-19 patients from 2021 to 2022 with 81 participants, who reported 13 symptoms between March and May 2023. Application of the k-means clustering method led to identification of three distinct symptom severities, severe (Cluster I), moderate (Cluster II), and mild (Cluster III), with respective average scores of 3.67±0.87, 3.20±0.98, and 1.87±0.81. In Clusters I and II, myalgia was the most notable symptom, while in Cluster III, sore throat was predominant. On average, individuals in Clusters I–III used 2.00–2.34 types of drugs, with use of a single drug having the highest frequency. Notably, Andrographis paniculata capsules were highly utilized across all clusters (51.85%), while favipiravir was less often used. Furthermore, one in five participants in the combined Clusters I and II employed substantial pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 treatment, whereas in Cluster III, this use remained below 10%. This research provides valuable insights into drug use patterns for managing COVID-19. The findings offer crucial information about symptoms from each cluster, tailoring treatment approaches to specific symptom severity clusters as well as overlapping medications.