{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T07:32:43Z","timestamp":1791617563675,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773100800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Intoxication by psychoactive substances (PASs) in children, adolescents, and young adults is a growing public health concern, with evolving patterns of use and hospital presentation. This study aimed to analyze the trends in hospital admissions for PASs among children and youth aged 10 to 24 years in Slovenia during the 2013\u20132023 period. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study on patients discharged after hospitalization due to poisoning by PASs, according to ICD 10 AM. We considered four groups: children (aged 10\u201314), adolescents (aged 15\u201319) and young adults (20\u201321 and 22\u201324 years old). Annual hospitalization rates were stratified by sex, age group, and PAS category. The joinpoint regression model was used to estimate the average annual percentage change (AAPC) and annual percentage change (APC) response time trend. Results: Of those hospitalized, 52% were male and 65% were adolescents, followed by children (13%). A statistically significant decrease in alcohol-related hospitalizations was observed in the 10\u201314 and 15\u201319 age groups for both sexes in the period 2013\u20132023, while a statistically significant increasing trend was observed for alcohol in 22\u201324-year-old males during the period 2019\u20132023, and in multiple drug\/other\/unspecified PASs in the 15\u201319 age group in the period 2015\u20132023. Conclusions: Slovenia has some peculiarities in the abuse of PASs. Sex reversal phenomena are present already among children (especially for alcohol), and there are shifting risks in polydrug use in adolescents and emerging threats, as well as an increase in sedative or hypnotic poisoning in female adolescents since 2017.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15062112","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T12:39:08Z","timestamp":1773146348000},"page":"2112","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Trends in Hospital Admissions for Psychoactive Substance Intoxication Among Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults in Slovenia, 2013\u20132023"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8252-7652","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Lovrecic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mateja Rok","family":"Simon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5935-0599","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mercedes","family":"Lovrecic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kosiorek, D., Lewko, J., and Romankiewicz, E. 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