The objective of this study was to assess international trends in antipsychotic use, using a standardised methodology. A repeated cross-sectional design was applied to data extracts from the years 2005 to 2014 from 16 countries worldwide. During the study period, the overall prevalence of antipsychotic use increased in 10 of the 16 studied countries. In 2014, the overall prevalence of antipsychotic use was highest in Taiwan (78.2/1000 persons), and lowest in Colombia (3.2/1000). In children and adolescents (0-19 years), antipsychotic use ranged from 0.5/1000 (Lithuania) to 30.8/1000 (Taiwan). In adults (20-64 years), the range was 2.8/1000 (Colombia) to 78.9/1000 (publicly insured US population), and in older adults (65+ years), antipsychotic use ranged from 19.0/1000 (Colombia) to 149.0/1000 (Taiwan). Atypical antipsychotic use increased in all populations (range of atypical/typical ratio: 0.7 (Taiwan) to 6.1 (New Zealand, Australia)). Quetiapine, risperidone, and olanzapine were most frequently prescribed. Prevalence and patterns of antipsychotic use varied markedly between countries. In the majority of populations, antipsychotic utilisation and especially the use of atypical antipsychotics increased over time. The high rates of antipsychotic prescriptions in older adults and in youths in some countries merit further investigation and systematic pharmacoepidemiologic monitoring.

Background:The use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) has grown worldwide, and there are concerns about increased unsubstantiated long-term use. The aim of the study was to describe the real-world use of PPIs over the past decade in an entire national population.Methods:This was a nationwide population-based drug-utilization study. Patterns of outpatient PPI use among adults in Iceland between 2003 and 2015 were investigated, including annual incidence and prevalence, duration of use, and dose of tablet used (lower versus higher), as well as the proportion of PPI use attributable to gastroprotection.Results:We observed 1,372,790 prescription fills over the entire study period, of which 95% were for higher-dose PPIs. Annual incidence remained stable across time (3.3–4.1 per 100 persons per year), while the annual prevalence increased from 8.5 per 100 persons to 15.5 per 100 persons. Prevalence increased with patient age and was higher among women than men. Duration of treatment increased with patients’ age (36% of users over 80 years remained on treatment after 1 year compared with 13% of users aged 19–39 years), and was longer among those initiating on a higher dose compared with a lower dose. The proportion of PPI users concurrently using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs decreased over the study period, while the proportion concurrently using acetylsalicylic acid, oral anticoagulants, or platelet inhibitors increased.Conclusions:In this nationwide study, a considerable increase in overall outpatient use of PPIs over a 13-year period was observed, particularly among older adults. Patients were increasingly treated for longer durations than recommended by clinical guidelines and mainly with higher doses.

IMPORTANCEWomen with epilepsy frequently need antiseizure medication (ASM) to prevent seizures in pregnancy. Risk of neurodevelopmental disorders after prenatal exposure to AMSs is uncertain.OBJECTIVE To determine whether children exposed prenatally to ASMs in monotherapy and duotherapy have increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThe Nordic register-based study of antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy (SCAN-AED) is a population-based cohort study using health register and social register data from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (1996-2017; analysis performed February 2022). From 4 702 774 alive-born children with available mother-child identities and maternal prescription data, this study included 4 494 926 participants. Children from a multiple pregnancy or with chromosomal disorders or uncertain pregnancy length were excluded (n = 207 848).EXPOSURES Prenatal exposure to ASM determined from maternal prescription fills between last menstrual period and birth. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESWe estimated cumulative incidence at age 8 years in exposed and unexposed children. Cox regression adjusted for potential confounders yielded adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) with 95% CIs for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), or any neurodevelopmental disorder (ASD and/or ID).RESULTS A total of 4 494 926 children were included; 2 306 993 (51.3%) were male, and the median (IQR) age at end of follow-up was 8 (4.0-12.1) years. Among 21 634 unexposed children of mothers with epilepsy, 1.5% had a diagnosis of ASD and 0.8% (numerators were not available because of personal data regulations in Denmark) of ID by age 8 years. In same-aged children of mothers with epilepsy exposed to topiramate and valproate monotherapy, 4.3% and 2.7%, respectively, had ASD, and 3.1% and 2.4% had ID. The aHRs for ASD and ID after topiramate exposure were 2.8 (95% CI, 1.4-5.7) and 3.5 (95% CI, 1.4-8.6), respectively, and after valproate exposure were 2.4 (95% CI, 1.7-3.3) and 2.5 (95% CI, 1.7-3.7). The aHRs were elevated with higher ASM doses compared with children from the general population. The duotherapies levetiracetam with carbamazepine and lamotrigine with topiramate were associated with increased risks of neurodevelopmental disorders in children of women with epilepsy: levetiracetam with carbamazepine: 8-year cumulative incidence, 5.7%; aHR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.5-8.2; lamotrigine with topiramate: 8-year cumulative incidence, 7.5%; aHR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.1-4.9. No increased risk was associated with levetiracetam with lamotrigine (8-year cumulative incidence, 1.6%; aHR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.3-2.5). No consistently increased risks were observed for neurodevelopmental disorders after prenatal exposure to monotherapy with lamotrigine, levetiracetam, carbamazepin, oxcarbazepine, gapapentin, pregabalin, clonazepam, or phenobarbital. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEIn this cohort study, prenatal exposure to topiramate, valproate, and several duotherapies were associated with increased risks of neurodevel...

It is necessary to carry out large observational studies to generate robust evidence about the safety of drugs used during pregnancy. In the Nordic countries, nationwide population-based health registers that document all births and dispensed prescribed drugs are valuable resources for such studies. A common data model (CDM) is a data harmonization and structuring tool that enables a unified and streamlined analytic approach for studies including data from multiple countries or databases. We describe a CDM developed for the Nordic Pregnancy Drug Safety Studies (NorPreSS), including details on data sources and structure of the data tables. We also provide an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the approach (e.g. sharing of data analysis programs versus extra initial work to create CDM datasets from raw data).

BackgroundAntipsychotics are increasingly used among women of childbearing age and during pregnancy.ObjectiveTo determine whether children exposed to antipsychotics in utero are at increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), accounting for maternal diagnoses of bipolar, psychotic and other psychiatric disorders.DesignPopulation-based cohort study, including a sibling analysis.SettingNationwide data on all pregnant women and their live-born singletons in Denmark (1997-2017), Finland (1996-2016), Iceland (2004-2017), Norway (2004-2017), and Sweden (2006-2016).Participants4 324 086 children were eligible for inclusion to the study cohort.InterventionAntipsychotic exposure in utero, assessed by pregnancy trimester, type of antipsychotic, and varying patterns of use.Main outcome measuresNon-mutually exclusive diagnoses of ADHD and ASD. We used Cox proportional hazard models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) controlling for maternal psychiatric disorders and other potential confounding factors.FindingsAmong 4 324 086 singleton births, 15 466 (0.4%) were exposed to antipsychotics in utero. During a median follow-up of 10 years, we identified 72 257 children with ADHD and 38 674 children with ASD. Unadjusted HRs were raised for both outcomes but shifted substantially towards the null after adjustment; 1.10 (95%CI 1.00 to 1.27) for ADHD and 1.12 (0.97 to 1.29) for ASD. Adjusted HRs remained consistent by trimester of exposure and type of antipsychotic. Comparing in utero exposure with pre-pregnancy use yielded HRs of 0.74 (0.62 to 0.87) for ADHD and 0.88 (0.70 to 1.10) for ASD. Sibling analyses yielded HRs of 1.14 (0.79 to 1.64) for ADHD and 1.34 (0.75 to 2.39) for ASD.DiscussionOur findings suggest little or no increased risk of child ADHD or ASD after in utero exposure to antipsychotics.Clinical implicationsResults regarding child neurodevelopment are reassuring for women who need antipsychotics during pregnancy.

Purpose Increased expression of Vacuolar‐type H+ ATPases (V‐ATPases), in the plasma membrane of cancer cells has been suggested to contribute to the development of aggressive cancer phenotypes by promoting acidic tumor microenvironments. Accumulating data suggest that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may elicit a chemopreventive effect via V‐ATPase inhibition in some cancers, but evidence is still limited. Therefore, we aimed to explore a potential preventive role of PPIs in this study. Methods In this population‐based case‐control study, we identified incident cases of breast cancer (n = 1739), prostate cancer (n = 1897), and malignant melanoma (n = 385) in Iceland between 2005 and 2014 from the Icelandic Cancer Registry. We assessed varying levels of PPI use through record linkages to the Icelandic Medicines Registry. For each case, we selected up to 10 age‐matched, sex‐matched, and calendar‐matched population controls using risk‐set sampling. Using conditional logistic regression, we calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) controlling for NSAID use. Results Adjusted ORs associated with ever use of PPIs were 1.03 (95% CI: 0.92‐1.16) for breast cancer, 1.12 (95% CI: 1.00‐1.25) for prostate cancer, and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.69‐1.12) for malignant melanoma. Analyses of high use of PPIs (≥1000 DDDs) yielded ORs of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.78‐1.19), 1.20 (0.99‐1.47), and 0.59 (0.40‐1.13) for breast cancer, prostate cancer, and malignant melanoma, respectively. Analyses of cumulative exposure to PPIs did not support a dose‐response relationship for any of the three cancer types. Conclusions Our findings do not support a chemopreventive effect of PPI use on breast cancer, prostate cancer, or malignant melanoma.

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