The use of benzodiazepines among adolescents in Taiwan nearly doubled between 2014 and 2018, surpassing rates in Europe and the US, the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) said yesterday.
The agency’s research found that the use of sleeping pills among Taiwanese aged 12 to 17 rose from 0.42 percent in 2014 to 0.8 percent in 2018.
Within that group, the proportion of nonprescription use also increased from 38.1 percent to 48.8 percent.
Photo: CNA
The findings were drawn from a nationwide survey on substance use conducted every four years.
NHRI vice president Chen Wei-jen (陳為堅), who is also a research fellow at the Center for Neuropsychiatric Research, led the study, which involved interviews with 17,837 people in 2014 and 18,626 in 2018.
The survey results showed that overall prevalence of benzodiazepine use held steady at about 5 percent from 2014 to 2018, while nonmedical use remained at 0.7 percent.
However, usage patterns differed in terms of age and gender.
Among men, both prevalence and nonmedical use declined.
In contrast, prevalence among women aged 18 to 39 rose from 2.91 percent to 3.81 percent during the four-year period, while nonprescription use among women aged 40 to 64 increased from 0.73 percent to 1.14 percent.
Chen said that increases in adolescent use of sleeping pills have also been observed internationally and might be tied to the widespread use of electronic devices.
Although two major types of benzodiazepines are not approved for adolescent insomnia in Taiwan and many other countries, young people might still obtain prescriptions for them and share them with friends, he said.
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