Impact of Supply Chain Disruptions and Drug Shortages on Drug Utilization: A Scoping Review

Drug shortages are a growing challenge in health systems across the world. A better understanding of the impacts of shortages on patient drug access and use will guide policies aimed at mitigating shortages. This scoping review aims to summarize observational literature assessing the impact of drug shortages on drug utilization trends.

We searched Ovid MEDLINE and Ovid EMBASE for studies published between 1946 and September 17, 2024. An extensive grey literature search was conducted through targeted website searches, grey literature databases, and the Google search engine. Observational studies examining the impacts of drug shortages on drug use were included. Study screening and extraction were conducted by two independent reviewers.

We identified 55 published articles and five gray literature reports. Most studies were conducted in North America (n = 42, 70%). Population-level data were most used (n = 34, 57%), and most studies used drug prescription data to assess changes in use (n = 30, 55%). Most studies reported changes in drug use as a percent change, and the magnitude in decreases ranged from 1% to 99%. Many different data sources, methods, and measures were used to study the impact of drug shortages on drug utilization, and a broad range of decreases in drug utilization following the shortages were reported.

It is important to synthesize findings across studies to understand how different drugs and settings are affected by shortages. The findings here will inform future studies aimed at filling this knowledge gap, ultimately yielding real-world evidence that can guide policy decisions to address drug supply challenges.