Antidepressant Use Among Paediatric Patients With Recent-Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Nationwide Case Control Study in Finland

Published 25.2.2014

Abstract

Aim

Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) appear to be at increased risk of psychosocial problems, but there are few large-scale studies related to mental health in paediatric IBD. We aimed to assess the use of antidepressants among adolescents with recent-onset IBD.

Methods

In a Finnish nationwide register-based study, we assessed dispensed prescribed antidepressants in 248 adolescents with incident IBD and in 992 peers individually matched for age, sex and place of residence between 1 January 2006 and 30 September 2010. For comparison, dispensed prescribed centrally acting sympathomimetics (ADHD drugs) were also assessed. Purchases of these drugs, available by prescription only, were considered proxy indicators for drug use.

Results

We observed a significant difference in the frequency of antidepressant use among adolescents with IBD (3.2%) when compared with peers (1.2%; P = 0.031) up to 3 years from diagnosis. In the use of ADHD drugs there was no difference between the groups.

Conclusion

The findings address the disease burden of the gut disease and reflect the importance of considering mental health in adolescents with IBD.

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Authors

Lauri Virta, Kaija-Leena Kolho

Additional Information

Peer-Reviewed: yes.
Open Access: no.
Cite as: Virta, L. J., & Kolho, K. L. (2014). Antidepressant use among paediatric patients with recent-onset inflammatory bowel disease: a nationwide case control study in Finland. Journal of paediatrics and child health, 50(7), 562–565. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.12516