TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in the association between health complaint frequency and medicine use among adolescents in Scotland between 1998 and 2010
AU - Levin, Kate Ann
AU - Whitehead, Ross
AU - Andersen, Anette
AU - Levin, Daniel
AU - Gobina, Inese
AU - Holstein, Bjorn
N1 - Funding Information:
The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study is an international survey conducted in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe. The authors would like to acknowledge the HBSC international research network in 43 countries that developed the study's research protocol. This work was supported by NHS Health Scotland and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - Objective: Medicines have the potential to cause harm, particularly when adolescents do not follow recommendations for use. In addition, medicine use in adolescence has been shown to track into adulthood. There is therefore a strong rationale to monitor changes in adolescent medicine use over time and understand the mechanisms behind these changes. Methods: Data from the 1998, 2006 and 2010 Scotland Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey were modelled using multilevel logistic regression, modelling medicine use for: headache, stomachache, sleeping difficulties and nervousness, as well as a combined medicine use measure. Models adjusted for year and frequency of health complaints to measure trends in medicine use, and an interaction term to measure the relationship between medicine use and health complaint frequency. Results: Medicine use reduced between 1998 and 2010. Hownever having the majority of the reduction was observed between 1998 and 2006 for all five outcomes. Adjustment for health complaint frequency only explained some of this reduction. When an interaction term was added between year and health complaint frequency this was significant for boys' medicine use, suggesting that health complaint frequency became a better predictor of medicine use with time. Medicine use for stomachache among girls increased over time, and this increase became more pronounced after adjustment for stomachache frequency. Conclusion: Changes in health complaint frequency were only partly associated with reductions in medicine use between 1998 and 2010. Further monitoring of medicine use is recommended, particularly the use of medicine for sleep difficulties, and for stomachache among girls.
AB - Objective: Medicines have the potential to cause harm, particularly when adolescents do not follow recommendations for use. In addition, medicine use in adolescence has been shown to track into adulthood. There is therefore a strong rationale to monitor changes in adolescent medicine use over time and understand the mechanisms behind these changes. Methods: Data from the 1998, 2006 and 2010 Scotland Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey were modelled using multilevel logistic regression, modelling medicine use for: headache, stomachache, sleeping difficulties and nervousness, as well as a combined medicine use measure. Models adjusted for year and frequency of health complaints to measure trends in medicine use, and an interaction term to measure the relationship between medicine use and health complaint frequency. Results: Medicine use reduced between 1998 and 2010. Hownever having the majority of the reduction was observed between 1998 and 2006 for all five outcomes. Adjustment for health complaint frequency only explained some of this reduction. When an interaction term was added between year and health complaint frequency this was significant for boys' medicine use, suggesting that health complaint frequency became a better predictor of medicine use with time. Medicine use for stomachache among girls increased over time, and this increase became more pronounced after adjustment for stomachache frequency. Conclusion: Changes in health complaint frequency were only partly associated with reductions in medicine use between 1998 and 2010. Further monitoring of medicine use is recommended, particularly the use of medicine for sleep difficulties, and for stomachache among girls.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Health complaints
KW - Medicine use
KW - Scotland
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84925154461&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.12.006
DO - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.12.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 25582801
AN - SCOPUS:84925154461
SN - 0022-3999
VL - 78
SP - 371
EP - 376
JO - Journal of Psychosomatic Research
JF - Journal of Psychosomatic Research
IS - 4
ER -
