Killing Pain - Use of Analgesic, Sedative and Anxiolytic Medication and the Development of Psychiatric Illness in Adolescents

Summary

Prescription of analgesic, sedative, and anxiolytic medication for children and adolescents is increasing in Western countries. In recent decades, rates have also increased in Norway, despite a relatively restrictive prescription practice. Analgesics, sedatives, and anxiolytics are among the medications most commonly prescribed to young people by general practitioners and others. Overuse of such medication adversely impacts individual and societal health, social and economic measures. For example, the risk of chronification of pain, development of addiction, and dropout from school and the workforce is high. Epidemiological research has largely failed to integrate vulnerable, young service users' perspectives in planning, interpretation and dissemination of results. This has resulted in limited identification of potential causes for the increasing exposure to prescription and overuse of analgesics and other addictive drugs among of children and adolescents, and the long-term consequences this may have for morbidity and addiction in early adulthood. Knowledge of early risk factors and plausible causal mechanisms is crucial for the development of timely and effective interventions to prevent inappropriate prescriptions in clinical practice.

This prospective, longitudinal cohort study examines the use of analgesic, sedative, and anxiolytic medication among about 25,000 children throughout adolescence and young adulthood (1995 to 2020), specifically addressing changes in prescription over time, and early risk factors for the prescription of addictive drugs in adolescence and young adulthood and the subsequent development of mental health disorders.

Conditions

• PTSD
• Psychiatric Illness
• Prescription Drug Dependence
• Addiction

Interventions

OTHER

Age & Development

Age, sex, pubertal onset and development

OTHER

Socioeconomy

Family structure and economy

OTHER

Traumatic Events

Violence and other traumatic events

OTHER

Psychosocial conditions

Family/social support

OTHER

Lifestyle

Physical activity, BMI, nutrition, smoking …

OTHER

Chronic conditions

I.e. Epilepsy or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis ...

OTHER

Somatic symptoms

Headache, pain, sleep disturbances ...

OTHER

Psychological symptoms

PTSS, anxiety, depressive symptoms \& loneliness ...

OTHER

Non-prescription analgesics

Non-prescription analgesics

OTHER

Prescription drugs

Analgetic, sedative \& anxiolytic medication

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Oslo University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• The Change Factory

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Norwegian Council for Mental Health

  collaborator OTHER

• The Dam Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• Norwegian Institute of Public Health

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Norwegian Center for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Synne O Stensland, MD PhD · Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies

Eligibility

Min Age

13 Years

Max Age

32 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-02-01

Primary Completion

2023-01-31

Completion

2025-01-31

Countries

• Norway

Study Locations