[Increased use of antibiotics among nineteen-year-olds in May]

The use of some drugs is significantly higher among 19-year-olds than among young people in adjacent age groups. We aimed to investigate the use of prescribed drugs in young people aged 17, 19 and 21 in order to identify trends in patterns of consumption.

Data were collected from the Norwegian Prescription Database 2005-2011. Prevalence (proportion of drug users) by gender, age (17, 19, 21 years), prescription date and county of residence are presented. Only drugs with more than 100 users per year in each age group (17, 19, 21) were included.

Use of some antibiotics and drugs for cough and eye infections was higher in 19-year-olds than in 17 and 21-year-olds. Moreover, the seasonal variation in the use of these drugs was different for 19-year-olds, with a marked peak in May and a lower winter peak than in the general population. The day-to-day prevalence showed a peak in the prescription rate just after the Norwegian Independence Day on 17 May. Girls had a higher consumption than boys. Considerable county variation was observed for 19-year-olds in the month of May.

The increased incidence of antibiotics, cough medicine and drugs used for eye infections in 19-year-olds compared with other young people can be explained by increased risk behaviour in the weeks before 17 May linked to graduation from Norwegian upper secondary schools. The findings give reason to warn against the present form of graduation celebrations which involve little sleep and all-night partying in close contact with others. They also give urgency to the question of whether to move the final examination period at upper secondary level away from the weeks immediately following 17 May.