Purpose: To determine the proportion of Australians dispensed psychotropic medications between 2013 and 2022 according to their age. Methods: Services Australia provided a de-identified 10% random Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) sample that allowed us to determine the proportion of Australians dispensed at least one script per year for the use of antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics. The classification of medications followed Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) coding. Participants were stratified into 10-year age groups from 0-9 to ≥90 years, and sex was coded as male/female. We used logit models to analyse the data. Results: The number of records per year ranged from 1,540,520 to 1,746,402, and 54.10% were for females. A greater proportion of older adults, particularly those aged ≥70 years, were dispensed antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics than any other age-group. The proportion of people dispensed antipsychotics, anxiolytics, and hypnotics declined between 2013 and 2022, but increased for antidepressants, most markedly for adolescents and young adults. Females were more frequently dispensed antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics than males, but males were more frequently dispensed antipsychotics than females. Conclusions: Older age groups and females are the most frequent recipients of psychotropic medications dispensed in Australia. The organisation and resourcing of health services should reflect this reality.

Background. Population-level estimates of hospitalisations for physical disease in recently treated populations of childhood cancer survivors are limited. In the Australian context, the long-term effects of childhood cancer on survivors and the health system are unclear. We examined the trends in primary hospitalisations for physical disease in a whole-population cohort of 5-year childhood cancer survivors (CCS) diagnosed in Western Australia (WA) from 1982-2014. Methods. We examined hospitalisation records for 2938 CCS and 24 792 matched ‘non-CCS’ controls, discharged from 1987-2019. Andersen-Gill Cox regression models for recurrent events were used to examine hospitalisation risk. Mean cumulative counts were used to examine hospitalisation burden by time since diagnosis and attained age. Negative binomial regression models were used to examine the annual percentage change (APC) in hospitalisations. Results. We identified a higher risk of hospitalisation for all-cause (HR=1.8, 95%CI 1.6-2.0) physical disease in CCS than controls. Compared to controls, hospitalisation risk was highest for second malignant neoplasms (HR=13.2, 95%CI 9.9-17.6) and blood diseases (HR=5.6, 95%CI 1.8-17.1) in CCS. Characteristics associated with higher hospitalisation rates included female gender, diagnosis with malignant bone tumours, cancer diagnosis age between 5-9 years, multiple childhood cancer diagnoses, higher comorbidity, high socio-economic deprivation, and geographic remoteness. The APC in hospitalisations differed between groups (CCS APC=-3.8%; controls APC=2.4%, p<0.05). Conclusions. A higher risk of hospitalisation for physical disease was observed in CCS compared with children not diagnosed with cancer, with the risk continuing to increase up to 30 years post-diagnosis. These findings emphasise the need for continued specialised care and additional research to understand the unmet needs in this population.