Investigators of Rutgers IFH Report Teen Overdoses Related to Drugs for Common Mental Health Issues
Researchers of the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research noted that physicians need to weigh the risks and benefits of drugs used to treat common mental health conditions amid reported overdoses.
A study published in Pediatrics, led by researchers of the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research (IFH), showed that a high number of teens and young adults with an overdose involving a benzodiazepine (BZD) or psychostimulant—medications commonly used to treat mental health issues—have a recent medical prescription for a BZD or stimulant.
Findings indicated that 29% of youth with overdoses involving BZD had a doctor-written prescription dispensed in the prior month and 42% in the prior 6 months, whereas 25% of youth with an overdose involving stimulants had a stimulant prescription dispensed in the prior month and 39% in the prior 6 months.
“Given that a substantial proportion of youth with overdoses involving BZD or stimulants have prescriptions for these drugs in the prior months, physician encounters when these medications are prescribed may offer an opportunity to identify youth at high risk of overdose,” said corresponding author Greta Bushnell, a core member of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Sciences at Rutgers IFH.
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