ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2024
Consumption of psychotropic drugs in Croatia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 10-year longitudinal study (2012-2021).
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Change of antidepressant utilization in children, adolescents and young adults in Europe before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Patterns of psychotropic drug dispensation in Portugal amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Antidepressant prescribing pattern in Croatia: a retrospective, longitudinal study from 2017 to 2022.Croatian medical journal · 2026Article
- Trend analysis of antidepressant consumption in Italy from 2008 to 2022 in a public health perspective.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antidepressant consumption in the Central region of Portugal: interrupted time series.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Prescriptions of antidepressants and anxiolytics in France 2012-2022 and changes with the COVID-19 pandemic: interrupted time series analysis.BMJ mental health · 2024Article
- The rise in mortality due to intentional self-poisoning by medicines in Brazil between 2003 and 2022: relationship with regional and global crises.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
purposeThis longitudinal study aimed to examine the trends in antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics/sedatives consumption in Croatia over a 10-year period (2012-2021). The study also assessed whether the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the yearly consumption of psychotropic drugs.
methodsData were collected from Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices (HALMED) and presented as defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day (DDD/TID). The consumption before (2012-2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) was compared with interrupted time series analysis.
resultsThere was an increase in total consumption of analyzed psychotropic drugs in Croatia between the years 2012 and 2021, from 115.47 DDD/TID in 2012 to 155.50 DDD/TID in 2021. An increasing trend was observed in the consumption of all 4 analyzed groups of medicines (antipsychotics, anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives, and antidepressants). Anxiolytics accounted for 59% (68.29/115.47 DDD/TID), and hypnotics and sedatives for 8.5% (9.76/115.47 DDD/TID) of total consumption in 2012. At the end of a 10-year period, hypnotics and sedatives represented 12% (19.05/155.50 DDD/TID) and anxiolytics 54% (83.53/155.50 DDD/TID) of psychotropic drugs consumption. The total consumption of psychotropic drugs was not significantly different before and during COVID-19 pandemic (estimate ± standard error = 5.029 ± 6.899, t = 0.729, P = 0.490).
conclusionCroatia had a high, continuously increasing consumption of psychotropic drugs. National anxiolytics consumption was one of the highest globally, while consumption of antidepressants was rather low compared to other high-income countries. The COVID-19 pandemic did not seem to influence the yearly utilization of psychotropic drugs in Croatia.
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