The use of sedative-hypnotic drugs in the nation last year exceeded 900 million pills for the first time, National Health Insurance Administration statistics showed.
That was an increase from about 853 million pills in 2016, the data showed.
From 2016 to last year, the number of patients using such drugs in Taiwan grew from about 4.117 million to about 4.265 million, Medical Review and Pharmaceutical Benefits Division senior specialist Huang Chao-chieh (黃兆杰) said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Last year, nearly 918 million sedative-hypnotic capsules or tablets were prescribed, he said, adding that if each pill had an average diameter of 1.5cm and they were lined up end to end, they would encircle Taiwan about 12 times.
Psychiatrists prescribed the most sedative-hypnotics at 33 percent, followed by family doctors (12 percent) and internists (10 percent), Huang said, adding that the remainder were prescribed by cardiovascular doctors, neurologists, orthopedic surgeons and doctors in other departments.
The National Health Insurance program last year spent NT$2.09 billion (US$67.82 million at the current exchange rate) subsidizing sedative-hypnotic prescriptions, he said.
Lin Chia-mo (林嘉謨), director of Shin Kong Wu Ho-su Memorial Hospital’s Sleep Center in Taipei, said that he believes the high usage of sedative-hypnotics might be related to the public’s healthcare-seeking habits.
Patients often feel they have not been treated unless they are given a prescription, he said.
Some patients will even ask for prescriptions for their friends or family, he added.
Lin warned of the higher risk of sedative-hypnotic overdose among older patients.
Older people typically have a slower metabolism and are more susceptible to accidentally overdosing on medication, he said.
Overdosing on sleeping pills could lead to hypersomnia and difficulty swallowing, thereby negatively affecting the patient’s quality of sleep instead of boosting it, he added.
In one case, a woman older than 60 who was a heavy user of sleeping pills experienced sleepwalking as a side effect, Lin said.
She once accidentally ingested detergent and had to be hospitalized for nearly one month after developing pneumonia, he said.
In another case, a woman older than 60 had to be intubated twice after overdosing on sleeping pills, he added.
People who have problems sleeping due to mental pressure should try to identify the source of their stress, Taipei Medical University School of Respiratory Therapy associate professor Liu Wen-te (劉文德) said.
It is also normal for people in their 50s to experience slight sleeping problems, as long as they feel energetic during the day, he said.
The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index is one tool that can be used to understand a patient’s sleep disorder, he added.
Taiwanese get an average of 6.86 hours of sleep on workdays and 7.51 hours on weekends and holidays, a 2017 study conducted by the Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine found.
The study also found that the prevalence of chronic insomnia in Taiwan is 11.3 percent.
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