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Psychotropic medicine prescriptions in Italian youths: a multiregional study

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the trend of paediatric psychotropic drug prescriptions in Italy. Data sources were regional, outpatient prescription databases. Seven Italian regions, covering 50 % of the Italian population, provided data from 2006 to 2011. Prevalence and incidence of prescriptions by age and gender were evaluated for psychotropic, antidepressant, antipsychotic, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) medications. The hospital admission rate for psychiatric conditions was calculated, also at the local health unit (LHU) level. The presence of trends in prescription prevalence and incidence during the 6 year period was assessed. Finally, the correlation between prevalence, prescription, hospital admission rates, latitude, longitude, and average annual income at the LHU level was also investigated. In 2011, 8834 youths received at least one psychotropic drug prescription, with a prevalence of 1.76 ‰ (95 % CI 1.72–1.80). The incidence of new psychotropic drug users was 1.03 ‰ (1.00–1.06). The prevalence of antidepressants was 1.02 ‰ (0.99–1.04), while that of antipsychotics was 0.70 ‰ (0.68–0.72), and that of ADHD medications 0.19 ‰ (0.18–0.21). The psychotropic drug prevalence increased with increasing age. Males were more exposed to psychotropic drugs than females (AUC0–17 male/female = 1.23). Antipsychotics were the most prescribed psychotropic drugs in males, while antidepressants were in females. Between-region prevalence ranged from 1.56 to 2.17 ‰. The overall prevalence of psychotropic drug from 2006 to 2011 was stable (\( \chi^{ 2}_{\text{t}} \) ≤ 0.001, p = 0.97). No correlation was found between prevalence and the variables investigated. Psychotropic drug prescription was very limited and stable. No geographical patterns were found.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the “Italian Interregional Drug Utilisation Group” for their helpful collaboration. We are grateful to Chiara Pandolfini for language editing.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

The manuscript does not contain clinical studies or individual patient data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Mother and Child Health, Public Health Department, IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri”, Via Giuseppe La Masa 19, 20156, Milan, Italy

    Daniele Piovani, Antonio Clavenna, Massimo Cartabia & Maurizio Bonati

Authors
  1. Daniele Piovani
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  2. Antonio Clavenna
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  3. Massimo Cartabia
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  4. Maurizio Bonati
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniele Piovani.

Additional information

On behalf of the Italian Interregional Drug Utilisation Group.

The members of Italian Interregional Drug Utilisation Group are listed in Appendix.

Italian Interregional Drug Utilisation Group

Italian Interregional Drug Utilisation Group

Abruzzo region: Caterina Anecchino, Antonio D’Ettorre, Marilena Romero, Dipartimento di Farmacologia Clinica ed Epidemiologia, Fondazione Mario Negri Sud; Stefania Melena, Servizio Assistenza farmaceutica e trasfusionale, Regione Abruzzo, Pescara, Italy

Emilia Romagna region: Anna Girardi, Elisabetta Poluzzi, Fabrizio De Ponti, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Pharmacology Unit, University of Bologna, Italy;

Massimo Clò, Information Service, Emilia Romagna Region Health Authority, Bologna, Italy

Friuli Venezia Giulia region: Fabio Barbone, Manuela Giangreco, Biologic and Medical Science department, University Hospital of Udine, Udine Italy; Federica Pisa, Institute of Hygiene and Clinical Epidemiology, University Hospital of Udine, Udine, Italy

Lazio region: Nera Agabiti, Marina Davoli, Ursula Kirchmayer, Flavia Mayer Department of Epidemiology, Lazio Regional Health Service, Roma, Italy

Lombardy region: Angela Bortolotti, Ida Fortino, Luca Merlino, Lombardy Region, Regional Health Ministry, Milan, Italy

Puglia region: Lucia Bisceglia, Francesco Bux, Puglia Health Regional Agency; Vito Lepore, Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Epidemiology, Fondazione Mario Negri Sud

Veneto region: Margherita Andretta, Servizio Farmaceutico ULSS 20, Verona, Italy;

Ugo Moretti, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Giovanna Scroccaro, Pharmaceutical Department, Veneto Region, Venezia, Italy;

Elisa Rossi, Marisa De Rosa, CINECA, Interuniversitary Consortium, Bologna, Italy

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Piovani, D., Clavenna, A., Cartabia, M. et al. Psychotropic medicine prescriptions in Italian youths: a multiregional study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 25, 235–245 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-015-0726-0

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