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[Sleep disorders and use of psychotropic drugs in 6-year-old children]
J Kopferschmitt1, P Meyer, A Jaeger
1Service de Réanimation Médicale et Centre Anti-Poisons, CHU de Strasbourg, France.
Insights
Psychoactive drug use is prevalent in six-year-old children, with 12.1% using medication. This study highlights significant variations in prescription rates across different localities.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric pharmacology
- Child psychology
- Public health
Context:
- A prospective survey was conducted over two years in Bas-Rhin, France.
- The study focused on six-year-old children attending compulsory first-year infant school consultations.
- Data was collected during examinations by school doctors with parental presence.
Purpose:
- To investigate the prevalence and patterns of psychoactive drug use in young children.
- To analyze factors associated with psychoactive drug consumption, including family environment, after-school activities, sleep, and geographic location.
- To understand the duration of psychoactive drug use among this pediatric population.
Summary:
- Out of 11,274 children examined, 12.1% were using psychoactive drugs, contrasting with only 1% of parents reporting insomnia.
- A significant proportion of children using these drugs had long-term prescriptions: 32% for over a year, 24% for over two years, and 11% for over three years.
- Psychoactive drug consumption varied markedly by locality, with some areas showing over 50% of children using these medications.
Impact:
- Reveals a high rate of psychoactive drug use in a young pediatric population.
- Identifies significant geographical disparities in prescription patterns.
- Underscores the need for further investigation into the underlying causes and long-term implications of widespread psychoactive drug use in children.
Abstract:
The purpose of this prospective survey, conducted over a two years period, was to study the use of psychoactive drugs among six year-old children in the Bas-Rhin administrative "département", of eastern France. The factors analysed were family environment, after-school time, the child's sleep, the locality where the child lived and the drugs used. The child was examined by school doctors, in the presence of the parents, at the compulsory consultation at the start of first-year infant school. The study was exhaustive. Of the 11,274 children examined, 12.1% used a psychoactive drug, although only 1% were considered by their parents to be suffering from insomnia. Of the children using drugs, 32% had used them for more than a year, 24% for more than two years and 11% for more than three years. Consumption was also shown to vary greatly between different localities; in some areas the proportion of children using drugs was more than 50%.