Prolonged increase in psychotropic drug use among young women following the COVID-19 pandemic: a French nationwide retrospective study

Prolonged increase in psychotropic drug use among young women following the COVID-19 pandemic: a French nationwide retrospective study. Lamer, A., Saint-Dizier, C., Levaillant, M., Hamel-Broza, J. F., Ayed, E., Chazard, E., Bubrovszky, M., D'Hondt, F., Génin, M., & Horn, M. BMC Medicine, 22(1):1–10, BioMed Central, 2024.

Paper doi abstract bibtex

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health, with evidence suggesting an enduring mental health crisis. Studies worldwide observed increased usage of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics during the pandemic, notably among young people and women. However, few studies tracked consumption post-2021. Our study aimed to fill this gap by investigating whether the surge in the number psychotropic drug consumers in France persisted 2 years after the first lockdown, particularly focusing on age and gender differences. Methods: We conducted a national retrospective observational study based on the French national insurance database. We retrieved all prescriptions of anxiolytics, hypnotics, and antidepressants dispensed in pharmacies in France for the period 2015–2022. We performed interrupted time series analyses based on Poisson models for five age classes (12–18; 19–25; 26–50; 51–75; 76 and more) to assess the trend before lockdown, the gap induced and the change in trend after. Results: In the overall population, the number of consumers remained constant for antidepressants while it decreased for anxiolytics and hypnotics. Despite this global trend, a long-term increase was observed in the 12–18 and 19–25 groups for the three drug classes. Moreover, for these age classes, the increases were more pronounced for women than men, except for hypnotics where the trends were similar. Conclusions: The number of people using antidepressants continues to increase more than 2 years after the first lockdown, showing a prolonged effect on mental health. This effect is particularly striking among adolescents and young adults confirming the devastating long-term impact of the pandemic on their mental health.

@article{Lamer2024,
abstract = {Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health, with evidence suggesting an enduring mental health crisis. Studies worldwide observed increased usage of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics during the pandemic, notably among young people and women. However, few studies tracked consumption post-2021. Our study aimed to fill this gap by investigating whether the surge in the number psychotropic drug consumers in France persisted 2 years after the first lockdown, particularly focusing on age and gender differences. Methods: We conducted a national retrospective observational study based on the French national insurance database. We retrieved all prescriptions of anxiolytics, hypnotics, and antidepressants dispensed in pharmacies in France for the period 2015–2022. We performed interrupted time series analyses based on Poisson models for five age classes (12–18; 19–25; 26–50; 51–75; 76 and more) to assess the trend before lockdown, the gap induced and the change in trend after. Results: In the overall population, the number of consumers remained constant for antidepressants while it decreased for anxiolytics and hypnotics. Despite this global trend, a long-term increase was observed in the 12–18 and 19–25 groups for the three drug classes. Moreover, for these age classes, the increases were more pronounced for women than men, except for hypnotics where the trends were similar. Conclusions: The number of people using antidepressants continues to increase more than 2 years after the first lockdown, showing a prolonged effect on mental health. This effect is particularly striking among adolescents and young adults confirming the devastating long-term impact of the pandemic on their mental health.},
author = {Lamer, Antoine and Saint-Dizier, Chlo{\'{e}} and Levaillant, Mathieu and Hamel-Broza, Jean Fran{\c{c}}ois and Ayed, Eiya and Chazard, Emmanuel and Bubrovszky, Maxime and D'Hondt, Fabien and G{\'{e}}nin, Michael and Horn, Mathilde},
doi = {10.1186/s12916-024-03496-8},
file = {:C\:/Users/fabie/Downloads/s12916-024-03496-8.pdf:pdf},
issn = {17417015},
journal = {BMC Medicine},
keywords = {COVID-19,Data reuse,Mental health,Pharmacoepidemiology,Psychiatry,Psychotropic drugs},
number = {1},
pages = {1--10},
pmid = {38956514},
publisher = {BioMed Central},
title = {{Prolonged increase in psychotropic drug use among young women following the COVID-19 pandemic: a French nationwide retrospective study}},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03496-8},
volume = {22},
year = {2024}
}

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Our study aimed to fill this gap by investigating whether the surge in the number psychotropic drug consumers in France persisted 2 years after the first lockdown, particularly focusing on age and gender differences. Methods: We conducted a national retrospective observational study based on the French national insurance database. We retrieved all prescriptions of anxiolytics, hypnotics, and antidepressants dispensed in pharmacies in France for the period 2015–2022. We performed interrupted time series analyses based on Poisson models for five age classes (12–18; 19–25; 26–50; 51–75; 76 and more) to assess the trend before lockdown, the gap induced and the change in trend after. Results: In the overall population, the number of consumers remained constant for antidepressants while it decreased for anxiolytics and hypnotics. Despite this global trend, a long-term increase was observed in the 12–18 and 19–25 groups for the three drug classes. Moreover, for these age classes, the increases were more pronounced for women than men, except for hypnotics where the trends were similar. Conclusions: The number of people using antidepressants continues to increase more than 2 years after the first lockdown, showing a prolonged effect on mental health. 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