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Drug utilisation among Dutch adolescents: a pharmacy prescription records study
Richelle C Kosse1, Ellen S Koster1, Tjalling W de Vries2
1Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Clinical Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Faculty of Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Background:
Studies on adolescent drug use are scarce as most studies do not distinguish between children and adolescents. Therefore, we assessed overall drug use in adolescents.
Methods:
A retrospective cohort study was conducted using pharmacy dispensing records from 62 community pharmacies in the Netherlands. Dispensing records of the previous 5 years were extracted for adolescents (12-18 years).
Results:
The study population consisted of 47 421 adolescents who collected at least one medication prescription during adolescence (mean age 15.5±1.8 years; 48.9% males). Half of them collected dermatologicals (46.2% males; 52.3% females), followed by drugs for the respiratory system (43.4% males; 40.3% females) and anti-infectives for systemic use (31.3% males; 39.1% females). The percentage of males using dermatologicals slightly increased, while the percentage of female users decreased with age. The most prescribed active ingredient was methylphenidate.
Conclusions:
These insights into adolescent drug use help us to better understand adolescent healthcare use.
Trial Registration Number:
Dutch trial register NTR5061.
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