Covid-19 drove surge in sleeping pill prescriptions in Korea, study finds
Published: 29 Aug. 2025, 21:10
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The Covid-19 pandemic fueled a sharp rise in the use of sleeping pills among Koreans with insomnia, according to a large-scale study analyzing records of more than 8.14 million people.
The joint research, led by Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul National University College of Medicine, was released Friday. It is the first study in Korea to compare actual prescriptions during the pandemic with forecasts based on pre-pandemic trends.
Insomnia is common: three to five in 10 people experience it at some point. Difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakenings and early morning waking are typical symptoms. Prolonged insomnia can trigger depression and anxiety, worsen physical illness and lower quality of life.
The research team, led by Prof. Lee Yu-jin of neuropsychiatry and Prof. Shin Ae-sun of preventive medicine, examined National Health Insurance data for 8,136,437 adults diagnosed with insomnia from 2010 to 2022. Women made up 60.4 percent of the group.
They studied four drug categories: benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepines, low-dose antidepressants and low-dose antipsychotics.
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From 2010 to 2022, both prescriptions and the number of patients steadily increased. Annual prescriptions climbed from 10.5 million in 2010 to 38.5 million in 2020, 41.2 million in 2021 and 42.4 million in 2022 — more than a fourfold increase in 12 years.
Women consistently had higher prescription rates than men. Older adults, especially those over 70, recorded the highest levels.
But during the pandemic, prescriptions exceeded forecasts across all age groups. Young adults aged 18 to 29 showed the widest gap in 2021, across all drug categories, suggesting the pandemic hit this group hardest.
The sharpest rise came in low-dose antidepressants prescribed for sleep. In the first half of 2020, prescriptions jumped 38.6 percent for men — about 1.51 million cases — and 37.1 percent for women, or 2.31 million cases, compared with the same period in 2019.
Low-dose antipsychotics also surged, up 28.9 percent for men and 25.7 percent for women, adding more than one million prescriptions combined. These levels remained elevated through 2021.
“From 2010 to 2022, prescriptions for sleep medications steadily increased, especially among women and older adults,” Prof. Lee said. “During the pandemic, prescriptions of low-dose antidepressants and antipsychotics used for insomnia significantly exceeded forecasts, with the sharpest increases among young adults. This makes safe use and careful monitoring of side effects in this age group especially important.”
The study was published online in the Journal of Korean Medical Science.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY RHEE ESTHER [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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