{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,18]],"date-time":"2026-07-18T02:12:46Z","timestamp":1784340766894,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,17]],"date-time":"2025-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758067200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009045","name":"Uniwersytet Jagiello\u00c5\u201eski Collegium Medicum","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["N43\/DBS\/000275"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["N43\/DBS\/000275"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009045","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Bengt J\u00c3\u00b6nsson Foundation for Health Economic Research"},{"name":"Bengt J\u00c3\u00b6nsson Foundation for Health Economic Research"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profoundly negative impact on all societal sectors, public health systems, and state economies. The pandemic led to high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and substance abuse, while the impact on changes in psychotropic medication prescribing was complex. Despite less restrictive measures in the first stage of the pandemic, Sweden experienced significant mental health consequences and changes in psychotropic medication prescribing.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Aim<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study aimed to characterize the different psychotropic medication prescribing patterns (antidepressants, anxiolytics, hypnotics and sedatives, and drugs used in addictive disorders: nicotine, alcohol, and opioid dependence) at regional levels and investigate the correlations of disease spread and socio-economic factors with the Swedish regional prescribing patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We employed an observational and retrospective design, incorporating time-series analysis, spatial visualization, and regression analysis.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The prescribing of anxiolytics and drugs used in addictive disorders decreased during the pandemic, with the most striking reductions seen in medications used for nicotine dependence. Considerable regional variations were observed across Sweden during the pandemic years, with antidepressant prescribing increasing slightly, and hypnotics and sedatives showing a relatively stable trend. None of the four key variables of disease spread and socio-economic factors showed a statistically significant correlation with the changes in the prescribing of drugs used for nicotine dependence.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Our study demonstrated differentiated changes in psychotropic medication prescribing patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. We found a pandemic effect on nicotine dependence drug prescribing, which the key variables could not explain. Targeted mental health interventions and specific regional health policies should be developed to reduce disparities and address regional variations during future health emergencies.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0330081","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,17]],"date-time":"2025-09-17T17:40:21Z","timestamp":1758130821000},"page":"e0330081","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Correlations between the prescribing patterns of psychotropic medications and socio-economic factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional Swedish registry study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-3706-8989","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Dainty","family":"Ei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gunnar","family":"Br\u00e5dvik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Lindgren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7906-698X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Paul","family":"Barach","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9915-7267","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tomasz","family":"Bochenek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,17]]},"reference":[{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0330081.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"510","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMp2008017","article-title":"Mental Health and the Covid-19 Pandemic","volume":"383","author":"B Pfefferbaum","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"pone.0330081.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2020.08.001","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review","volume":"277","author":"J Xiong","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Affect Disord"},{"key":"pone.0330081.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"531","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbi.2020.05.048","article-title":"COVID-19 pandemic and mental health consequences: Systematic review of the current evidence","volume":"89","author":"N Vindegaard","year":"2020","journal-title":"Brain Behav Immun"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0330081.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1186\/s13690-022-00990-4","article-title":"Anxiety, depression, and social connectedness among the general population of eight countries during the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"80","author":"D Long","year":"2022","journal-title":"Arch Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0330081.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sleep.2021.07.035","article-title":"Insomnia, anxiety, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international collaborative study","volume":"87","author":"CM Morin","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sleep Med"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0330081.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1192\/j.eurpsy.2020.81","article-title":"Psychological impact of COVID-19 in the Swedish population: Depression, anxiety, and insomnia and their associations to risk and vulnerability factors","volume":"63","author":"LM McCracken","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur Psychiatry"},{"key":"pone.0330081.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"562437","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2021.562437","article-title":"Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Sweden","volume":"9","author":"E Rondung","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0330081.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1177\/14034948211021724","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and health behaviors in Swedish adolescents","volume":"50","author":"Y Chen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Scand J Public Health"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0330081.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3313","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18063313","article-title":"Lifestyle Habits and Mental Health in Light of the Two COVID-19 Pandemic Waves in Sweden, 2020","volume":"18","author":"V Blom","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0330081.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2342","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18052342","article-title":"Changes of gambling patterns during COVID-19 in Sweden, and potential for preventive policy changes. 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