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Psychotropic drug use subsided in young children
The use of psychotropic prescription medications to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, mood disorders, anxiety and other mental health disorders in very young children has stabilized, according to recent study findings published in Pediatrics.
The study included 43,598 children aged 2 to 5 years from the 1994 to 2009 National Ambulatory and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys to estimate visits at which psychotropic medications were prescribed.
Researchers found that psychotropic prescription use peaked in 2002 to 2005 (at 1.5% of visits), then leveled off from 2006 to 2009 (to 1.0% of visits). In those with one or more behavioral diagnoses, psychotropic drug use decreased from 43% in 1994 to 1997 to 29% in 2006 to 2009.
Boys, white children, older children and those without private insurance were more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medications.
“Our findings underscore the need to ensure that doctors of very young children are diagnosing ADHD, the most common diagnosis, and prescribing stimulants, the most common psychotropic medications, are using the most up-to-date and stringent diagnostic criteria and clinical practice guidelines,” Tanya Froehlich, MD, of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, said in a press release. “Furthermore, given the continued use of psychotropic medications in very young children and concerns regarding their effects on the developing brain, future studies on the long-term effects of psychotropic medication use in this age group are essential.”
Disclosure: The study was funded in part by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, and the National Institute of Mental Health.
