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.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS