Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2024 Jul 28;12:100264. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2024.100264. eCollection 2024 Sep.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To assess trends in hospitalization for sedative misuse among youth.
METHODS: Using a serial cross-sectional design, we computed hospitalization rates for sedative-related suicide attempts, sedative use disorders, and other sedative poisonings within individuals aged 5-24 years in Quebec, Canada. We computed sedative-related hospitalization rates in 2006-2011, 2012-2017, and 2018-2023, and examined differences according to age, sex, polysubstance use, mental health comorbidity, and social vulnerability using rate ratios (RR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) comparing the last time period relative to the first.
RESULTS: Sedative-related hospitalization rates more than doubled during the study. Suicide attempts using sedatives increased from 50.5 per 100,000 youth in 2006-2011, to 82.2 in 2012-2017 and 114.4 in 2018-2023 (RR 2.26, 95 % CI 1.63-3.15), while sedative use disorders increased from 13.1 to 21.8 and 60.5 per 100,000 in these same time periods (RR 4.62, 95 % CI 2.54-8.40). Rates increased for 10-24 year-olds and in both sexes, particularly among youth with polysubstance use, anxiety and attention disorders, and social vulnerability.
DISCUSSION: Sedative misuse requiring hospitalization appears to be a growing issue among youth.
PMID:39185479 | PMC:PMC11342106 | DOI:10.1016/j.dadr.2024.100264
