Observational studyPloS one2025
Correlations between the prescribing patterns of psychotropic medications and socio-economic factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional Swedish registry study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Initiation of antidepressant medicines in Swedish patients diagnosed with COVID-19: a registry-based cohort study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profoundly negative impact on all societal sectors, public health systems, and state economies. The pandemic led to high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and substance abuse, while the impact on changes in psychotropic medication prescribing was complex. Despite less restrictive measures in the first stage of the pandemic, Sweden experienced significant mental health consequences and changes in psychotropic medication prescribing.
aimThis study aimed to characterize the different psychotropic medication prescribing patterns (antidepressants, anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives, and drugs used in addictive disorders: nicotine, alcohol, and opioid dependence) at regional levels and investigate the correlations of disease spread and socio-economic factors with the Swedish regional prescribing patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsWe employed an observational and retrospective design, incorporating time-series analysis, spatial visualization, and regression analysis.
resultsThe prescribing of anxiolytics and drugs used in addictive disorders decreased during the pandemic, with the most striking reductions seen in medications used for nicotine dependence. Considerable regional variations were observed across Sweden during the pandemic years, with antidepressant prescribing increasing slightly, and hypnotics and sedatives showing a relatively stable trend. None of the four key variables of disease spread and socio-economic factors showed a statistically significant correlation with the changes in the prescribing of drugs used for nicotine dependence.
conclusionsOur study demonstrated differentiated changes in psychotropic medication prescribing patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. We found a pandemic effect on nicotine dependence drug prescribing, which the key variables could not explain. Targeted mental health interventions and specific regional health policies should be developed to reduce disparities and address regional variations during future health emergencies.
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