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Psychotropic medication in children and adolescents in the United States in the year 2004 vs 2014

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Abstract

Background

There is a global perception that psychotropic utilization in children and adolescents is increasing in the US.

Methods

We present prevalent estimates for all psychotropics prescribed in the US (using commercial claims from Medicare and Medicaid) to children and adolescents in 2004 (total population N = 6,808,453) and in 2014 (total population N = 11,082.260). Further we evaluated if there has been a statistically significant change in prevalence during this time period. Analyses were stratified for the 6 major drug classes, all individuals’ psychotropics (87 drugs), age and sex.

Results

The prevalence of psychotropic drug prescription was 8.55% in 2004 and 9.00% in 2014 (age stratified in 2004 and 2014 toddlers: 3.08 and 2.63%, children: 8.74 and 8.73%, adolescents: 10.89% and 12.11). The prevalence for each drug class in 2004 and 2014 was: stimulants/other ADHD drugs 5.0 and 5.8%; antidepressants 2.8 and 2.7%; anxiolytic-hypnotic-sedative 2.2 and 2.3%; mood stabilizers 0.1 and 0.1%; antipsychotics 1.3 and 1.1%; and for drugs treating drug dependence 0.02 and 0.02%.

Conclusions

The perception that psychotropic utilization in children and adolescents is increasing in the US, derived from the 2 to 3 fold increase seen from the mid 80’s to the mid 90’s is not valid anymore. There has been a slowdown in the increase of prescribing psychotropics. In the last 10 years, in toddlers there was a decrease in the prescription; in children there was no change; and in adolescents there was a slight increase. The prescription of antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers has decreased overall.

In the last 10 years there has been a slowdown in the increase of prescribing psychotropics. In toddlers there was a decrease in the prescription (3.08 and 2.63%); in children (8.74 and 8.73%) there was no change; and in adolescents there was a slight increase (10.89% and 12.11). The prescription of antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers has decreased overall.

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Abbreviations

ADHD :

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

FDA :

food and drug administration’s

SNOMED :

systematized nomenclature of medicine

US :

United States

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Emil Scosyrev, Ph.D. for quality control of the statistical analyses.

SLL and BW are employees of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

Funding

SLL, BW and ES are employees of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Drug Safety & Epidemiology, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, One Health Plaza, 339-1234, East Hanover, NJ, 07936-1080, USA

    Sandra Lopez-Leon & Barbara Warner

  2. IPTAR Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, New York, NY, USA

    Manuel I. Lopez-Gomez

  3. West Morris Central HS, Long Valley, NJ, USA

    Leon Ruiter-Lopez

Authors
  1. Sandra Lopez-Leon
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  2. Manuel I. Lopez-Gomez
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  3. Barbara Warner
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  4. Leon Ruiter-Lopez
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Contributions

Analyzed and interpreted the data. SL- analyzed and interpreted the data, study design, analyses, analyzed data, wrote manuscript. MIL study design, interpret data and contributor in writing the manuscript. BW- interpretation of data, contributor in writing manuscript. LRL study design, writing of sections of the manuscript, all figures of the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra Lopez-Leon.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

An ethics committee approved the data collected. We received unidentified data and all data is presented in aggregated form.

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All authors give consent for publication.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Lopez-Leon, S., Lopez-Gomez, M.I., Warner, B. et al. Psychotropic medication in children and adolescents in the United States in the year 2004 vs 2014. DARU J Pharm Sci 26, 5–10 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40199-018-0204-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40199-018-0204-6

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