This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Teen ADHD medication abuse increased
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Emergency calls related to intentional abuse or misuse of medications prescribed for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder rose 76% from 1998 to 2005, according to an analysis of data provided by the American Association of Poison Control Center’s National Poison Data System, with a disproportionately high number of calls related to amphetamines.
“Other poison center calls, including all [substance] abuse and all teen abuse, have increased but not to the extent of teen ADHD stimulant abuse,” the Cincinnati-based researchers wrote.
Calls related to general substance abuse increased 59% and teen-specific substance abuse increased 55% during the same eight-year period.
Sales data indicated that ADHD medication prescriptions for adolescents aged 10 to 19 years jumped from 4.2 million to 7.8 million, suggesting a correlation between increases in the number of prescriptions written and the number of emergency calls. However, the rate of emergency calls varied depending on the type of ADHD medication prescribed.
Trends in prescription rates among adolescents and reported exposure by medication type are as follows:
- Amphetamine/dextroamphetamine prescriptions increased from 1.5 million to 3.6 million (141%; P<.0001); the number of abuse calls per million prescriptions increased from 48 to 115 (140%; P=.005).
- Methylphenidate prescriptions increased from 2.7 million to 4.3 million (57%; P=.0019); the number of abuse calls per million prescriptions decreased from 91 to 40.5 (55%; P=.0001).
- Outcomes among adolescents who used amphetamines/dextroamphetamines (45%) were more often classified as moderate to severe compared with those who used methylphenidate (37%).
“Call volume increases parallel sales increases, but the percentage of calls related to amphetamines is rising faster than sales,” the researchers wrote.
Outcomes were determined for 64% of callers and indicated that the proportion of clinically significant cases increased from 30% to 43%.
Because many drug-related ED visits occur without poison control center involvement, the researchers warned that these findings may have important implications for the volume of patients who visit the ED each year and may result in significant workflow issues.
The researchers warned that the National Poison Data System likely underreports substance abuse and poison-related fatalities, as reporting is passive and is not regulated or required.
“Although we have found an increase in both the prescription and the abuse of stimulant medication, it is important to note that previous studies show that prescription of stimulants for ADHD does not lead to drug abuse/addiction by the patient,” the researchers wrote. “Our data do not suggest that abuse is ‘kindled’ by availability, merely that it occurs and has grown.”
Setlik J. Pediatrics. 2009;124:875-880.