{"title":"Impact of COVID-19 pandemic policies on ADHD medication prescriptions among children and adolescents in Portugal.","authors":"Célia Silva, Mariia Melnikova, Rui Santos Ivo, Cláudia Furtado","doi":"10.1007/s00431-025-06229-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study aims to analyse the prescription of medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents, by age group and gender, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the impact of government policies during this period. This study was a retrospective cohort analysis using data from the Portuguese national prescription database and included all children and adolescents aged 5-19 years. We conducted an interrupted time series analysis, modelled using a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) approach, to evaluate the impact on prescription medications while considering two intervention points resulting from government policies: March 2020, marking the start of strict anti-pandemic measures, and May 2021, marking the beginning of their easing. Following the start of strict anti-pandemic measures, from March 2020 to May 2021, a 9% lower prescription rate than expected was observed, while from June 2021 to December 2023, the prescription rate was greater than expected (+ 32%, with a peak of + 41% in children 5-9 years old) and more pronounced in girls.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings highlight the complex impact of the pandemic on different age groups and between genders on the prescription of ADHD medicines.</p><p><strong>What is known: </strong>• ADHD medications are considered effective and have been increasingly prescribed to children and adolescents in recent years.</p><p><strong>What is new: </strong>• Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in ADHD medication prescriptions exceeded expected trends. • Stratification by age group and gender revealed gender differences, with a more pronounced rise in prescriptions observed among girls.</p>","PeriodicalId":11997,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Pediatrics","volume":"184 7","pages":"415"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12158850/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Journal of Pediatrics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-025-06229-y","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PEDIATRICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study aims to analyse the prescription of medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents, by age group and gender, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the impact of government policies during this period. This study was a retrospective cohort analysis using data from the Portuguese national prescription database and included all children and adolescents aged 5-19 years. We conducted an interrupted time series analysis, modelled using a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) approach, to evaluate the impact on prescription medications while considering two intervention points resulting from government policies: March 2020, marking the start of strict anti-pandemic measures, and May 2021, marking the beginning of their easing. Following the start of strict anti-pandemic measures, from March 2020 to May 2021, a 9% lower prescription rate than expected was observed, while from June 2021 to December 2023, the prescription rate was greater than expected (+ 32%, with a peak of + 41% in children 5-9 years old) and more pronounced in girls.
Conclusions: These findings highlight the complex impact of the pandemic on different age groups and between genders on the prescription of ADHD medicines.
What is known: • ADHD medications are considered effective and have been increasingly prescribed to children and adolescents in recent years.
What is new: • Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in ADHD medication prescriptions exceeded expected trends. • Stratification by age group and gender revealed gender differences, with a more pronounced rise in prescriptions observed among girls.
期刊介绍：
The European Journal of Pediatrics (EJPE) is a leading peer-reviewed medical journal which covers the entire field of pediatrics. The editors encourage authors to submit original articles, reviews, short communications, and correspondence on all relevant themes and topics.
EJPE is particularly committed to the publication of articles on important new clinical research that will have an immediate impact on clinical pediatric practice. The editorial office very much welcomes ideas for publications, whether individual articles or article series, that fit this goal and is always willing to address inquiries from authors regarding potential submissions. Invited review articles on clinical pediatrics that provide comprehensive coverage of a subject of importance are also regularly commissioned.
The short publication time reflects both the commitment of the editors and publishers and their passion for new developments in the field of pediatrics.
EJPE is active on social media (@EurJPediatrics) and we invite you to participate.
EJPE is the official journal of the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP) and publishes guidelines and statements in cooperation with the EAP.
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