Recent Decades Saw Rise in Sedative, Hypnotic, Anxiolytic Use Disorders

FRIDAY, Jan. 24, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Diagnoses of sedative, hypnotic, or anxiolytic use disorders (SHA-UD) increased threefold to fivefold between 2001 and 2019 for adolescent and young adult U.S. Medicaid enrollees, according to a study published online Jan. 22 in Addiction.

Greta Bushnell, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., from the Rutgers Institute for Health in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues measured trends in the prevalence of SHA-UD diagnoses in adolescent (ages 13 to 17 years) and young adult (ages 18 to 29 years) U.S. Medicaid enrollees (2001 to 2019). The analysis included 5.7 (2001) to 13.2 (2019) million persons per year.

The researchers found that the prevalence of SHA-UD diagnoses significantly increased for adolescents (0.01 to 0.04 percent) and young adults (0.05 to 0.24 percent) over time. Across sex and race/ethnicity subgroups, increases were seen, with the greatest relative increases among non-Hispanic Black (624 percent) and Hispanic (529 percent) young adults. Increases in SHA-UD diagnoses were seen among those with and without a benzodiazepine, z-hypnotic, or barbiturate prescription (0.39 to 1.77 percent for young adults with a prescription; 0.03 to 0.18 percent for young adults without a prescription). Comorbid substance use disorder was seen in the majority of adolescents (76 percent) and young adults (91 percent) with an SHA-UD diagnosis in 2019.

“The increase over two decades may be attributed to changes in the availability, use, and misuse of sedative, hypnotic, and anxiolytic medications and to increased detection, awareness, and diagnosing of SHA-UD,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed testifying as an expert witness in litigation, and one author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text