Psychiatric comorbidities and prescribing tendencies of sleep medications and related medications in young people with insomnia: a United States commercial claims-based analysis

Abstract Study Objectives To characterize children and youth newly diagnosed with insomnia and to describe their use of sleep and other related prescription medications. Methods Within a commercial claims database (January 1, 2016–December 31, 2021), we identified children and youth (2–24 years) with a newly recorded insomnia diagnosis (G47.0x; F51.0x) and examined psychiatric diagnoses in the prior 6 months. We evaluated sleep and related prescription medications dispensed in the week after new insomnia diagnoses (i.e. trazodone, other antidepressants, hydroxyzine, alpha-agonists, benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepine hypnotics “z-drugs,” antipsychotics, and others). Analyses were stratified by age and psychiatric comorbidities. Results Among 68 698 children and 108 118 older youth (18–24 years) with a new insomnia diagnosis, three-quarters had a diagnosed comorbid psychiatric condition; anxiety disorders, depression, and ADHD were the most common. Among those without comorbid psychiatric diagnoses, 20.2% of children and 37.4% of older youth had a sleep or related medication dispensed in the following week. In children without a comorbid psychiatric diagnosis, alpha-agonists, hydroxyzine, and trazodone were the most common medications; in older youth, trazodone was the most common medication followed by hydroxyzine, z-drugs, and SSRIs. Sleep and related prescription medications were more commonly dispensed to those with psychiatric comorbidities. From 2017 to 2021, there was an increase in hydroxyzine prescriptions following a new insomnia diagnosis and decline in z-drug and benzodiazepine prescriptions. Conclusions Our findings from a nationwide sample of young people with insomnia highlight the high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities and variety of sleep and related medications they receive. Characterizing prescribing tendencies informs guideline development and future research. Graphical Abstract Graphical Abstract