| Popis: |
Background: Psychotropic drugs have not been deeply studied in the paediatric population as normally this population is not included in clinical trials and these drugs are not authorised for it use in under 18 years. Objectives: To describe the use of psychotropic drugs in children and adolescents in the North of Europe and Catalonia. Methods: Data on psychotropic drug consumption in children and adolescents were retrieved from the databases of Catalonia, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from 2008 to 2017. Psychotropic drugs were divided in antipsychotics, anxiolytics (also hypnotics and sedatives), antidepressants and psychostimulants. Data were stratified by group of age (0-4, 5-9, 10-14 and 15-19/ 15-17 for Denmark and Catalonia) and sex. Results: Overall the group of anxiolytics shows the highest consumption and the group of antipsychotics the lowest. Sweden is the country with the highest consumption of psychotropic drugs and the highest increase in its consumption. Denmark has the lowest consumption for all groups. Catalonia shows a decrease in psychotropic drugs. Girls consume more than twice as many antidepressants as boys and the opposite is for psychostimulants. Risperidone and quetiapine are among the most consumed antipsychotics in the Nordic countries, in Catalonia they are risperidone and aripiprazole. Among the antidepressants sertraline is the most consumed. No differences are found among the psychostimulants. Differences regarding the use of anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives are found between the Nordic countries (melatonin is the most consumed) and Catalonia (hydroxyzine). Conclusions: Psychotropic consumption in younger populations is increasing though there are differences among the active substances among countries. Nordic countries show a higher prevalence of use than Catalonia. Psychotropic drug consumption increases with age being the only exception the psychostimulants consumption, which is highest in the 10-14 years group. |
