Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), Via del Tritone, 181, Rome, 00187, Italy.
Ital J Pediatr. 2024 May 20;50(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s13052-024-01670-5.
There is a global perception that psychotropic utilization in children and adolescents is increasing, especially with the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. Available literature data on paediatric psychotropic medication prescriptions in Italy are limited to one or few regions and not updated. The aim of this study was to provide updated data on psychotropic prescriptions referred to the whole Italian paediatric population, as overall and by subgroups of medications and to evaluate if the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 had an impact on prescription rates.
A descriptive study on psychotropic drug utilization in children and adolescents (< 18 years) resident in all Italian regions during 2020 was performed. Patients registered in the Pharmaceutical Prescriptions database with at least one prescription/dispensing of a psychotropic medication (antipsychotics-N05A), (antidepressants-N06A) and (psychostimulants-N06BA) during the study period were considered. The indicators used were the prescription rate (number of prescriptions per 1000 children) and prevalence of use (proportion of the paediatric population with at least one prescription in the relevant year).
During the 2020 the prevalence of psychotropic drug use in the paediatric population was 0.3%, increased of 7.8% if compared to 2019. The same trend was observed for the prescription rate, which recorded an average of 28.2 per 1000 children with an increase of 11.6% if compared to previous year, representing the 0.6% of the overall drug use in this age group. The data showed a growing trend prescription by age, reaching the peak in adolescents aged 12-17 years old, with a prescription rate of 65 per 1000 children and a prevalence of 0.71%. Considering the subgroups of psychotropic medications, the highest prevalence of use was found for antipsychotic drugs, received by the 0.19% of the paediatric population during 2020.
Psychotropic drug utilization in children and adolescents has grown during 2020 in Italy and worldwide, raising alarms from health care clinicians and patient advocates about the increase of burden of mental diseases in paediatric population during the COVID-19 pandemic. A more systematic monitoring of the use of psychotropic medications should be implemented in all countries for collecting relevant information about children and adolescents taking psychotropic drugs, in order to address the present and the future of the mental health of the paediatric population.
人们普遍认为，儿童和青少年的精神药物使用正在增加，尤其是在 COVID-19 大流行期间。意大利儿科精神药物处方的可用文献数据仅限于一个或几个地区，并且没有更新。本研究的目的是提供意大利全儿童人口精神药物处方的最新数据，包括总体数据和按药物亚组的数据，并评估 2020 年 COVID-19 大流行对处方率的影响。
对 2020 年期间居住在意大利所有地区的儿童和青少年（<18 岁）的精神药物使用情况进行了描述性研究。在研究期间，患者在药物处方数据库中至少有一次精神药物（抗精神病药-N05A、抗抑郁药-N06A 和精神兴奋剂-N06BA）的处方/配药，被认为是符合条件的。使用的指标是处方率（每 1000 名儿童的处方数）和使用率（在相关年份至少有一次处方的儿科人群比例）。
2020 年，儿科人群精神药物使用率为 0.3%，与 2019 年相比增加了 7.8%。处方率也呈现出相同的趋势，平均每 1000 名儿童 28.2 次处方，与前一年相比增加了 11.6%，占该年龄段总体药物使用的 0.6%。数据显示，按年龄的处方呈增长趋势，在 12-17 岁的青少年中达到峰值，每 1000 名儿童 65 次处方，使用率为 0.71%。考虑到精神药物亚组，抗精神病药物的使用率最高，2020 年有 0.19%的儿科人群使用。
意大利和全球儿童和青少年的精神药物使用在 2020 年有所增加，这引起了医疗保健临床医生和患者权益维护者的警惕，他们担心 COVID-19 大流行期间儿科人群的精神疾病负担增加。所有国家都应加强对精神药物使用的监测，以收集有关使用精神药物的儿童和青少年的相关信息，从而解决当前和未来儿科人群的精神健康问题。
