A Cross-Sectional Study of Prescribed Sleep Medication Use and Its Clinical and Demographic Factors Among Young People Receiving Mental Health Crisis Interventions in Sydney, Australia.
Md Nazmul Huda, Hasan Jamali, Mobarrat Monir and 8 others
PMID 42560083WHAT IT FOUND
Among 201 young people in a Sydney mental health crisis service, 42 (20.9%) used prescribed sleep medication, mostly melatonin.
A stay of 42 days or longer, trauma-related diagnoses and multiple medications were linked with higher sleep medication use.
Key findings
01In the analytic sample, 42 of 201 young people had prescribed sleep medication use (20.9%).
02Melatonin was prescribed to 41 of the 42 sleep medication users (97.6%), and only one user (2.4%) received a benzodiazepine.
03After adjustment, sleep medication use was associated with a stay of 42 days or longer (adjusted odds ratio 3.61), trauma-related diagnoses (2.81), and multiple medications (11.36).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether the factors came before sleep medication use or caused it. It was done in one Sydney crisis service, so the results may not apply to other settings. Thirty-eight of 239 eligible records were excluded for missing data, which may affect the estimates. The analysis included only medications documented as prescribed for sleep difficulties, mainly melatonin and benzodiazepines; other drugs sometimes used for sleep were not included. The study did not capture non-drug sleep interventions, so it cannot say whether medication was used first, alongside, or after non-drug approaches.
Declared interests
No funding was reported and the authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the associations as proof that longer stays, trauma diagnoses or multiple medications cause sleep medication use. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot establish the order of events.