The use of melatonin in Swedish children and adolescents—a register-based study according to age, gender, and medication of ADHD
Abstract
Purpose The use of melatonin is increasing among Swedish children and adolescents despite deficient knowledge of usage in these groups. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of melatonin in Swedish children and adolescents according to age, gender, dosage, treatment duration, and use of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication.Methods Data from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register was analyzed for children and adolescents 0-19 years old in Sweden during 2006-2013.Results The number of new users of melatonin in 2013 was 4296 and 3093 among boys and girls, respectively. Girls started treatment with melatonin in older ages compared to boys. Regular users of melatonin were most common among boys 10-14 years. The average defined daily dose (DDD) per regular user was decreasing from 2.4 DDD in 2006 to 1.7 DDD in 2012. Among girls and boys 5-9 years who were regular users in 2010, over 40 and 50%, respectively, were still regular users in 2013. In the age group 15-19 years, only about 10% were still regular users in 2013. In 2013, 65% of boys and 49% of girls, using melatonin regularly, also used medication for ADHD regularly.Conclusions More Swedish boys than girls used melatonin regularly. The boys started treatment earlier and more often combined regular use of melatonin with regular use of medication for ADHD. This indicates that girls and boys partly are prescribed melatonin for different reasons. About half of the younger children stayed on melatonin treatment for several years, while 90% of adolescents (15-19 years) concluded their treatment.
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50% of children prescribed melatonin were also using ADHD medications.
“50% of children prescribed melatonin were also using ADHD medications”
From A systematic review of circadian function, chronotype and chronotherapy in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (2017) · cites this paper as Furster and Hallerba ¨ck 2015
Melatonin usage was higher in boys than girls.
“melatonin usage was higher in boys than girls”
From A systematic review of circadian function, chronotype and chronotherapy in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (2017) · cites this paper as Furster and Hallerba ¨ck 2015
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- Authors
- Furster, C., & Hallerbäck, M. U.
- Affiliations
- Karlstad University (SE)
- Karlstad Central Hospital (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Furster, Catrin
- Venue
- European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
- Published
- 2015-05-22
- Volume
- 71
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 877-881
- ISSN
- 0031-6970 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-1041
- OpenAlex
- W1809987649
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 0.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Landstinget i Värmland
- Socialstyrelsen
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Keywords
- melatonin, children, adolescents, ADHD medication, sex differences, age differences, treatment duration, defined daily doses, prescribing patterns, sleep disorders
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Age Factors, Central Nervous System Stimulants, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Central Nervous System Depressants, Child, Child Behavior, Child, Preschool, Drug Administration Schedule, Drug Therapy, Combination, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Melatonin, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Registries, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Sleep, Sleep Wake Disorders, Sweden, Time Factors, Treatment Outcome, Drug Utilization Review, Young Adult
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