Changing patterns of hospitalization for sedative misuse among youth aged 10–24 years in Quebec, Canada

Purpose

To assess trends in hospitalization for sedative misuse among youth.

Methods

Using a serial cross-sectional design, we computed hospitalization rates for sedative-related suicide attempts, sedative use disorders, and other sedative poisonings within individuals aged 5–24 years in Quebec, Canada. We computed sedative-related hospitalization rates in 2006–2011, 2012–2017, and 2018–2023, and examined differences according to age, sex, polysubstance use, mental health comorbidity, and social vulnerability using rate ratios (RR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) comparing the last time period relative to the first.

Results

Sedative-related hospitalization rates more than doubled during the study. Suicide attempts using sedatives increased from 50.5 per 100,000 youth in 2006–2011, to 82.2 in 2012–2017 and 114.4 in 2018–2023 (RR 2.26, 95 % CI 1.63–3.15), while sedative use disorders increased from 13.1 to 21.8 and 60.5 per 100,000 in these same time periods (RR 4.62, 95 % CI 2.54–8.40). Rates increased for 10–24 year-olds and in both sexes, particularly among youth with polysubstance use, anxiety and attention disorders, and social vulnerability.

Discussion

Sedative misuse requiring hospitalization appears to be a growing issue among youth.