Schoolchildren increasingly misusing sedatives and sleeping pills
Almost half of young people prescribed sedatives have misused them, according to a study by the University of Tartu and the National Institute for Health Development (TAI).
The use of sedatives and sleeping pills has risen risen globally over the past few decades – as has their misuse, said Liina Veskimäe, the lead author of the study, PhD student at the University of Tartu and senior analyst at TAI's Risk Behavior Research Department.
"In 2019, the highest prevalence of sedative and sleeping pill misuse among 15–16-year-old students in Europe was in Latvia at 21 percent and Lithuania at 20 percent. In Estonia, it was 15 percent, compared to the European average of 6.6 percent," she said.
"The most common reasons these medications are prescribed to young people are anxiety disorders, depression, and sleep disturbances," the researcher told ERR.
Estonia lacks an overview of exactly how many young people have been prescribed these drugs and by who, Veskimäe said. She plans to further study this in the next stage of her work.
Girls are more abused
The research looked at how misuse has changed among 15-16-year-old schoolchildren in Estonia from 2003 to 2019 and risk factors.
Compared to 2003, misuse of sedatives and sleeping pills has risen by over 10 percent among young people, but 11.3 percent for boys and 17.5 percent for girls.
Misuse almost doubled among boys who had been prescribed sedatives and sleeping pills by a doctor, reaching 41.4 percent, and among girls, it rose to 44.1 percent.
Veskimäe said, according to the study, boys and girls who had previously taken these drugs on a doctor's order had a significantly higher chance of abusing sedatives and sleeping pills.
"There was also a higher risk among those who considered access to the medications easy and among those whose friends misused sedatives and sleeping pills. Smoking cigarettes and lower levels of physical activity also increased the risk of misuse," she said.
The study was based on the Estonian data of the survey on the use of alcohol and drugs among European schoolchildren. In total, 11,328 students participated, 48.6 percent of whom were boys.
Medication misuse refers to the use of drugs without a doctor's prescription, as well as taking them more frequently, for longer periods, or in larger doses than prescribed, or using them for purposes other than intended, such as to induce intoxication.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Helen Wright
