Melatonin use among children, adolescents, and young adults: a Danish nationwide drug utilization study

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

  • Mette Bliddal
  • Helene Kildegaard
  • Lotte Rasmussen
  • Martin Ernst
  • Jennum, Poul
  • Stine Hasling Mogensen
  • Anton Pottegård
  • Rikke Wesselhoeft

We aimed to provide a detailed description of the use of melatonin in Danish children, adolescents, and young adults during 2012–2019. We identified melatonin users 0–24 years of age (n = 43,652; median age 16 years) via the Danish nationwide health registers. Melatonin is a prescription drug in Denmark. The incidence of melatonin use increased from 2.4 to 3.9/1000 person-years during 2012 to 2019. Among 6,557 incident users in 2019, 53% filled only a single prescription within the first 6 months. Long-term use was most common among the younger age groups, with 17% of 5–9-year-olds and 14% of 10–13-year-olds being in continued treatment (no treatment breaks) 12 months after their first melatonin prescription. Disregarding treatment breaks, 3 in 10 were using melatonin 12 months after their first melatonin prescription and this proportion was also highest among 5–9-year-olds (63%) and 10–13-year-olds (51%). Psychopathology was common among melatonin users with 75% registered with either a psychiatric disorder diagnosis (54%), a filled prescription for another psychotropic (58%), or a contact to a private practice psychiatrist (15%) within ± 12 months of treatment initiation. General practitioners authorized melatonin prescriptions to almost half of all new users (48%), while psychiatric specialists authorized 37% of first prescriptions. In conclusion, the incidence of melatonin use increased in Denmark from 2012 to 2019. A substantial proportion of users had concurrent psychopathology most likely explaining their use of melatonin. Long-term melatonin use was more common among the youngest age groups, which should be a focus of interest due to limited safety data.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftEuropean Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Vol/bind32
Udgave nummer10
Sider (fra-til)2021-2029
Antal sider9
ISSN1018-8827
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
Anton Pottegård reports participation in research projects funded by Alcon, Almirall, Astellas, Astra-Zeneca, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, Servier and LEO Pharma, all regulator-mandated phase IV-studies, all with funds paid to the institution where he was employed (no personal fees) and with no relation to the work reported in this paper. All other authors declare no conflict of interests.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.

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