Primary care visits due to mental health problems and use of psychotropic medication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Finnish adolescents and young adults

BACKGROUND: Social restrictions due to COVID-19 have impacted the everyday life of adolescents and young adults, with increased levels of stress and anxiety being reported. Therefore, we report primary care visits due to mental health problems and the use of psychotropic medication in Finland. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide register-based study and included primary care visits with mental health problems (F*-class ICD-10 diagnosis) for patients aged 15–24 years. We calculated incidence for visits and used incidence rate ratios (IRR) for comparisons. Psychotropic medication purchases for patients aged 13–24 years were included. Annual psychotropic medication user prevalence per 1000 was calculated and prevalence rate ratios (PRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used for comparisons. The years 2020 and 2021 were compared to the pre-pandemic reference year 2019. RESULTS: A total of 396534 visits to primary care due to mental health problems were included. Annual visit incidences per 1000 were 151.7 in 2019, 193.6 in 2020, and 306.7 in 2021, indicating a 28% (IRR 1.28, CI 1.27–1.29) increase from 2019 to 2020 and a 102% (IRR 2.02, CI:2.01–2.04) increase from 2019 to 2021. Highest reported increases in 2020 were sleeping disorders (IRR 1.79, CI 1.72–1.87) and anxiety disorders (IRR 1.39, CI 1.37–1.42). Prevalence of antidepressant use increased by 25% (PRR 1.25, CI 1.23–1.26) in 2021. An increase was also seen in the use of antipsychotics (+ 19%, PRR 1.19. CI 1.16–1.21). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for mental health services and medication among Finnish adolescents and young adults. Our health care system needs the capacity to manage the increased number of visits, and we must be better prepared for future crises. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13034-023-00584-0.