Psychiatry · Public Health · General Practice · 2 h ago
Norwegian ADHD medication use accelerated after 2020, especially among young women
A nationwide Norwegian registry study covering 63.7 million person-years found sustained acceleration in ADHD medication use after 2020. Annual growth among females aged 15–24 increased from 5.2% to 24.4%, although the study cannot establish whether the change reflects improved detection or potential overuse.
- Nationwide registry analysis covered 63.7 million person-years during 2009–2024.
- ADHD medication use accelerated across all groups after 2020.
- Females aged 15–24 had the largest increase in annual growth.
- Improved detection versus potential overuse remains unresolved.
A nationwide register-based study in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health examined ADHD medication use in Norway before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers used prescription registry and population data from 2009–2024, encompassing 63,737,063 person-years, to calculate annual prevalence of dispensed ADHD medications (ATC N06BA) by age and sex. Interrupted time-series quasi-Poisson models assessed changes in trends from 2020.
Medication use was relatively stable until 2020, followed by sustained acceleration across all groups. The largest increase occurred among females aged 15–24: annual growth rose from 5.2% to 24.4%, an approximately 19-percentage-point increase. Among males, those aged 15–24 showed the strongest acceleration, with annual growth increasing from 2.7% to 11.7%, a 9.0-percentage-point increase.
The findings indicate a persistent change in dispensing trends coinciding with the pandemic period, rather than a transient disruption. However, this observational analysis does not establish that the pandemic caused the increase or determine whether prescribing was appropriate. Dispensing data describe medication use rather than diagnostic accuracy or clinical benefit. The authors call for research to distinguish improved detection from potential overuse. Only the abstract was available; absolute prevalence estimates and uncertainty intervals were not provided.
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Scandinavian Journal of Public Health: Sustained increases in ADHD medication use after the COVID-19 pandemic: A nationwide register-based study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.