BACKGROUND Different methods in pharmacoepidemiology can be used to study hypnotic use in children. But neither questionnaire-based data nor prescription records can be considered a "gold standard". This study aimed to investigate the agreement between mother-reported questionnaire-based data and prescription record data for hypnotic drugs in children aged 0-18 months. The agreement was compare...

BACKGROUND During the summer of 2006, a wave of wildfires struck Galicia (north-west Spain), giving rise to a disaster situation in which a great deal of the territory was destroyed. Unlike other occasions, the wildfires in this case also threatened farms, houses and even human lives, with the result that the perception of disaster and helplessness was the most acute experienced in recent years...

Approximately 6.0% of U.S. adolescents aged 12-19 reported psychotropic drug use in the past month. The use of antidepressants (3.2%) and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) drugs (3.2%) was highest, followed by antipsychotics (1.0%); anxiolytics, sedatives, and hypnotics (0.5%); and antimanics (0.2%). Males (4.2%) were more likely than females (2.2%) to use ADHD drugs. Females (4.5%)...

BACKGROUND While antidepressant-induced suicidality is a concern in younger age groups, there is mounting evidence that these drugs may reduce suicidality in the elderly. Regarding a possible association between other types of psychoactive drugs and suicide, results are inconclusive. Sedatives and hypnotics are widely prescribed to elderly persons with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and sleep...

A NESTHESIOLOGISTS are master pharmacologists. In the course of our training, we learn that certain types of drugs, the hypnotics, suppress consciousness. We learn that other types of drugs, the analgesics, suppress nociception. Through training and experience, we learn to induce oblivion with judicious combinations of hypnotics and analgesics. We learn to leverage the synergistic interaction o...

Driving a car is important to maintain independence and participate in society. Many of those who use psychoactive medication are outpatients and are thus likely to drive a vehicle. Most common adverse effects that impair driving are reduced alertness, affected psychomotor functioning and impaired vision. This review discusses the effects on driving ability of most commonly prescribed psychoact...

Mont Blanc, the summit of Western Europe, is a popular but demanding high-altitude ascent. Drug use is thought to be widespread among climbers attempting this summit, not only to prevent altitude illnesses, but also to boost physical and/or psychological capacities. This practice may be unsafe in this remote alpine environment. However, robust data on medication during the ascent of Mont Blanc ...

Zolpidem, zopiclone, and zaleplon are commonly referred to as the "Z-drugs." The Z-drugs are nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics indicated for the short-term treatment of insomnia. Since becoming widely prescribed as sleep aids in the United States, they are increasingly being detected in a variety of forensic specimens. We present a comprehensive overview of the basic chemistry, pharmacodynamics, and ...

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the dependence for benzodiazepine or their agonist (BZDs) hypnotics, as well as factors associated with this dependence among Japanese psychiatric outpatients. One thousand and forty-three patients in the psychiatric outpatient clinic of Tokyo Medical University Hospital receiving treatment with BZDs hypnotics were analyzed. The subjects answere...

OBJECTIVES In light of the need to develop an integrated database on poisoning incidents in Korea, this study seeks to determine the characteristics of poisoning incidents in Korea by age, gender, location of incident, causative substance and patient prognosis. DATA SOURCES The Korea National Hospital Discharge In-Depth Injury Survey results (2005-2009) from the Korea Centers for Disease Cont...