The use of antipsychotic drugs to treat psychiatric disorders of children, adolescents, and young adults continues to increase, along with concern that prescribing is expanding beyond indications supported by evidence about their effectiveness and safety. In fact, a national study reveals that second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) treatment climbed by 62 percent among Medicaid-enrolled children between 2002 and 2007, reaching 354,000 youth (2.4 percent) in the final year of the study.
The highest rates of SGA treatment growth were among school-aged children and adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disabilities, and developmental delay and/or learning disabilities. By 2007, half of all children receiving SGAs had ADHD listed as one of their diagnoses and one in seven (14 percent) had ADHD as their only mental health diagnosis.
The study was supported in part by AHRQ (HS18550). See "The relationship between mental health diagnosis and treatment with second-generation antipsychotics over time: A national study of U.S. Medicaid-enrolled children," by Meredith Matone, M.H.S., Russell Localio, Ph.D., Yuan-Shung Huang, M.S., and others in the October 2012 HSR: Health Services Research 47(5), pp. 1836-1860.