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Use of drugs for ADHD among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the Nordic countries

PURPOSE: The use of ADHD drugs among adults is controversial and has until recently not been approved for use in adults in most countries. The aim was to investigate use of ADHD drugs (stimulants and atomoxetine) among the entire adult population in the Nordic countries. METHODS: We conducted a mult...

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Autores principales: Karlstad, Øystein, Zoëga, Helga, Furu, Kari, Bahmanyar, Shahram, Martikainen, Jaana E, Kieler, Helle, Pottegård, Anton
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5110707/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27586399
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00228-016-2125-y
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author Karlstad, Øystein
Zoëga, Helga
Furu, Kari
Bahmanyar, Shahram
Martikainen, Jaana E
Kieler, Helle
Pottegård, Anton
author_facet Karlstad, Øystein
Zoëga, Helga
Furu, Kari
Bahmanyar, Shahram
Martikainen, Jaana E
Kieler, Helle
Pottegård, Anton
author_sort Karlstad, Øystein
collection PubMed
description PURPOSE: The use of ADHD drugs among adults is controversial and has until recently not been approved for use in adults in most countries. The aim was to investigate use of ADHD drugs (stimulants and atomoxetine) among the entire adult population in the Nordic countries. METHODS: We conducted a multinational population-based prescription register study based on the entire adult population in the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). All users of ADHD drugs aged 18–64 years during 2008–2012 were included, which for 2012 comprised 76,896 drug users among 15.8 million adult inhabitants. RESULTS: Annual prevalence of drug use increased during the study period for both genders and all age groups. The overall prevalence increased from 2.4 to 5.3 per 1000 men and 1.8 to 4.4 per 1000 women. Incidence also increased, but to a lesser extent in the last part of the study period. Methylphenidate was used by 88 % of drug users. Treatment was discontinued within the first year by 21 % of new drug users. Among all users of ADHD drugs, 53 % of men and 64 % of women concurrently used other psychotropic drugs, most frequently antidepressants and hypnotics. Psychotropic co-medication increased with age and was more pronounced among women than men. CONCLUSIONS: Use of ADHD drug among adults more than doubled over a 5-year period, and a majority were concurrently treated with other psychotropics. Adults constitute a substantial proportion of persons treated with ADHD drugs. Thus, evidence for long-term efficacy and safety in adults is urgently needed. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00228-016-2125-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-51107072016-11-29 Use of drugs for ADHD among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the Nordic countries Karlstad, Øystein Zoëga, Helga Furu, Kari Bahmanyar, Shahram Martikainen, Jaana E Kieler, Helle Pottegård, Anton Eur J Clin Pharmacol Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription PURPOSE: The use of ADHD drugs among adults is controversial and has until recently not been approved for use in adults in most countries. The aim was to investigate use of ADHD drugs (stimulants and atomoxetine) among the entire adult population in the Nordic countries. METHODS: We conducted a multinational population-based prescription register study based on the entire adult population in the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). All users of ADHD drugs aged 18–64 years during 2008–2012 were included, which for 2012 comprised 76,896 drug users among 15.8 million adult inhabitants. RESULTS: Annual prevalence of drug use increased during the study period for both genders and all age groups. The overall prevalence increased from 2.4 to 5.3 per 1000 men and 1.8 to 4.4 per 1000 women. Incidence also increased, but to a lesser extent in the last part of the study period. Methylphenidate was used by 88 % of drug users. Treatment was discontinued within the first year by 21 % of new drug users. Among all users of ADHD drugs, 53 % of men and 64 % of women concurrently used other psychotropic drugs, most frequently antidepressants and hypnotics. Psychotropic co-medication increased with age and was more pronounced among women than men. CONCLUSIONS: Use of ADHD drug among adults more than doubled over a 5-year period, and a majority were concurrently treated with other psychotropics. Adults constitute a substantial proportion of persons treated with ADHD drugs. Thus, evidence for long-term efficacy and safety in adults is urgently needed. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00228-016-2125-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2016-09-01 2016 /pmc/articles/PMC5110707/ /pubmed/27586399 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00228-016-2125-y Text en © The Author(s) 2016 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription
Karlstad, Øystein
Zoëga, Helga
Furu, Kari
Bahmanyar, Shahram
Martikainen, Jaana E
Kieler, Helle
Pottegård, Anton
Use of drugs for ADHD among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the Nordic countries
title Use of drugs for ADHD among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the Nordic countries
title_full Use of drugs for ADHD among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the Nordic countries
title_fullStr Use of drugs for ADHD among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the Nordic countries
title_full_unstemmed Use of drugs for ADHD among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the Nordic countries
title_short Use of drugs for ADHD among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the Nordic countries
title_sort use of drugs for adhd among adults—a multinational study among 15.8 million adults in the nordic countries
topic Pharmacoepidemiology and Prescription
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5110707/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27586399
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00228-016-2125-y
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