| Title |
Impact of the early COVID-19 pandemic on adult mental health-related dispensed medications, hospitalizations and specialist outpatient visits in Norway and Sweden: Interrupted time series analysis / |
| Authors |
Moreno-Martos, David ; Zhao, Jing ; Li, Huiqi ; Nyberg, Fredrik ; Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae ; Hajiebrahimi, Mohammadhossein ; Wettermark, Bjorn Gunnar Erik Evert ; Aakjær, Mia ; Andersen, Morten ; Sessa, Maurizio ; Lupattelli, Angela ; Nordeng, Hedvig ; Morales, Daniel R |
| DOI |
10.1111/bcp.16044 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
British journal of clinical pharmacology.. Hoboken : Wiley. 2024, vol. 90, iss. 7, p. 1627-1636.. ISSN 0306-5251. eISSN 1365-2125 |
| Keywords [eng] |
COVID-19 ; healthcare delivery ; mental health ; Norway ; pandemic ; Sweden |
| Abstract [eng] |
Aims: Norway and Sweden had different early pandemic responses that may have impacted mental health management. The aim was to assess the impact of the early COVID-19 pandemic on mental health-related care. Methods: We used national registries in Norway and Sweden (1 January 2018–31 December 2020) to define 2 cohorts: (i) general adult population; and (ii) mental health adult population. Interrupted times series regression analyses evaluated step and slope changes compared to prepandemic levels for monthly rates of medications (antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, hypnotics/sedatives, lithium, opioid analgesics, psychostimulants), hospitalizations (for anxiety, bipolar, depressive/mood, eating and schizophrenia/delusional disorders) and specialist outpatient visits. Results: In Norway, immediate reductions occurred in the general population for medications (−12% antidepressants to −7% hypnotics/sedatives) except for antipsychotics; and hospitalizations (−33% anxiety disorders to −17% bipolar disorders). Increasing slope change occurred for all medications except psychostimulants (+1.1%/month hypnotics/sedatives to +1.7%/month antidepressants); and hospitalization for anxiety disorders (+5.5%/month), depressive/mood disorders (+1.7%/month) and schizophrenia/delusional disorders (+2%/month). In Sweden, immediate reductions occurred for antidepressants (−7%) and opioids (−10%) and depressive/mood disorder hospitalizations (−11%) only with increasing slope change in psychostimulant prescribing of (0.9%/month). In contrast to Norway, increasing slope changes occurred in specialist outpatient visits for depressive/mood disorders, eating disorders and schizophrenia/delusional disorders (+1.5, +1.9 and +2.3%/month, respectively). Similar changes occurred in the pre-existing mental health cohorts. Conclusion: Differences in early COVID-19 policy response may have contributed to differences in adult mental healthcare provision in Norway and Sweden. |
| Published |
Hoboken : Wiley |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2024 |
| CC license |
|
