A nationwide study shows the use of psychotropic prescription medications to treat mood, anxiety and mental disorders including ADHD in children has “leveled off,” researchers said.
According to a news release, a nationwide study of children ages 2 to 5 in the United States shows psychotropic drug us peaked in 2002-2005, but leveled off from 2006-2009.
“Psychotropic usage decreased from 43 percent of those with one or more behavioral diagnoses in 1994-1997 to 29 percent in 2006-2009,” researchers said.
The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study is published online in the journal Pediatrics. Scientists studied data on more than 43,000 children from two national surveys, collecting information on patient visits to office-based physician practices and hospital-based outpatient clinics.
"The likelihood of receiving a behavioral diagnosis increased in 2006 to 2009, but this was not accompanied by an increased propensity toward psychotropic prescription," said Tanya Froehlich, MD, a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's and the study's senior author. "In fact, the likelihood of psychotropic use in 2006-2009 was half that of the 1994-1997 period among those with a behavioral diagnosis."
Though the number of prescriptions has lowered, researchers found an increase of psychiatric medications among “boys, white children and those without private health insurance during the 16-year study period, 1994-2009,” according to the news release.
"Our findings underscore the need to ensure that doctors of very young children who 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," Dr. Froehlich said. "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."
Researchers believe the use of psychotropic medications leveled off because of warning labels issued by the Food and Drug Administration, according to the news release:
“These include a 2004 FDA "black box" warning regarding suicidality risk, 2005 public health advisory regarding potential for cardiovascular risks involving amphetamines, and a 2006 FDA Advisory Committee recommendation (later reversed) for a black box warning on psychostimulants linking these drugs to possible heart problems.”
