Kids receiving more psychotropic drugs than ever before
Scientific
journals and news reports have repeatedly warned about the dangers of
giving children drugs to treat so-called "psychiatric" disorders
such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity, yet the prevalence of such
medication use among children and teenagers increased
by two- to three-fold from 1987 through 1996, according to an article in
the January 2003 issue of the Archives
of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.
According
to background information in the article, increased use of psychotropic
medication (drugs normally used to treat psychiatric disorders, such as
depression and other mood disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder) for treating behavioral and emotional problems in children and
adolescents has received widespread attention in the past decade. But
rather than reversing the trend, the medical profession is increasing the
number of children and teens being subjected to these drugs.
Julie
Magno Zito, Ph.D., of the
University
of
Maryland
,
Baltimore
, and colleagues analyzed
data from nearly 900,000 youths younger than 20 years enrolled in two
U.S.
health care systems from
1987 to 1996.
The
researchers found that the total use of psychotropic medications by youths
increased two-to- three-fold and included most classes of medication. By
1996, the 10-to-14 year-old age group replaced the 5-to-9 year-olds as the
largest group using psychotropic medication in the Medicaid populations
studied. In the HMO population, 15-to-19 year-olds were the most prominent
age group using psychotropics.
The
study found that six percent of youths under 20 years of age are now
receiving psychotropic drugs of some kind.
In
an accompanying editorial, Michael S. Jellinek, M.D., of
Massachusetts General
Hospital
,
Boston
, wrote, "We need to
ask ... this question: Are we prescribing the right psychotropic
medications to the right children using the right treatment plan?"
SOURCES: "Psychotropic
Practice Patterns for Youth, A 10-Year Perspective," by Julie Magno
Zito, Ph.D. et al., Archives of
Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, Jan.
2003, Vol. 157, No. 1.
"Mirror,
Mirror on the Wall: Are We Prescribing the Right Psychotropic Medications
to the Right Children Using the Right Treatment Plan?" by Michael S.
Jellinek, Archives of Pediatric
& Adolescent Medicine, Jan.
2003, Vol. 157, No. 1.
