The study analyzed the change in the use of psychotropic drugs like antidepressants and stimulants from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020, among children and adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic with a hypothesis that psychotropic drug use would be associated with the pandemic.
It was found that there was an almost two-fold decline in incident stimulant and anxiolytic/sedative-hypnotic use among children in the quarter immediately after public health closures in 2020 when compared with the same quarter in previous years.
Interestingly, there was a trending increase in antidepressant use above pre-pandemic rates in the last quarter of 2020.
This may reflect that there was an increase in new-onset depression or anxiety in this population during this period with non-significant trends in prevalence rates. However, further studies are required to understand the long-term changes in the health of children.
Source: Medindia
