Psychopharmacological Treatment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients in Finland

Abstract

Compared with data from a similarly conducted study in 1988, there is an increase especially in the use of antidepressant medication in inpatient care. Considering the increasing use of psychopharmacotherapy during the last 10 years as shown in the present study, the lack of research-based data on the efficacy and safety supporting their clinical use is a major problem in the treatment of disabling childhood mental health problems.

Impact of Regulatory Safety Warnings on the Use of Antidepressants among Children and Adolescents in Finland

“…The increase in incidence and annual prevalence of antidepressant use in Finland between 1998 and 2002 was consistent with the trend observed in other countries (Sourander et al 2002;Zito et al 2002;Delate et al 2004;Murray et al 2004;Ma et al 2005). Unlike in Finland, however, the incidence of antidepressant use declined in Australia, Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United States following the series of safety warnings and health advisories issued between 2003 and 2005 (Murray et al 2005;Dean et al 2007;Gibbons et al 2007;Kurdyak et al 2007;Kurian et al 2007;Nemeroff et al 2007;Volkers et al 2007).…”

Antipsychotic Use in Children and Adolescents

“…D espite the increase in antipsychotic (AP) use among children and adolescents in recent years in both outpatients 1Y3 and inpatients 4,5 in the United States and Europe, there is scarce information about their prescription in the clinical practice.…”

Childhood Bullying Behavior and Later Psychiatric Hospital and Psychopharmacologic Treatment

“…Hospital treatment in Finland is usually an indicator of a severe disturbance and is the most expensive treatment in psychiatry. 14,15 Our study aimed to examine the associations between bullying and victimization at the age of 8 years and psychiatric hospital treatment and use of psychiatric medications from 13 to 24 years. We studied the different outcomes of children who only frequently bullied, those who were only frequently victimized, and those who were frequently both bullies and victims (bully-victims).…”