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 Research & Giving News Article  Researchers studied the period between 1993 and 2002 Antipsychotics are medications used to treat mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and mania, which may involve loss of contact with reality. Several studies have indicated that prescriptions for these medications have been increasing among children and adolescents, raising concerns among professionals and the public. However, no national data have previously been available, according to background information in the article. Most prescriptions given to children and adolescents are for second-generation antipsychotics, which are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for pediatric patients. Mark Olfson, M.D., M.P.H., of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, and colleagues analyzed data from a national survey of office-based physicians conducted yearly by federal researchers. Dr. Olfson is a NARSAD 2005 Distinguished Investigator. Besides recording whether the child or adolescent patient received a prescription for antipsychotics, the physician or a staff member also logged the patient’s age, sex and race or ethnicity; the length of the visit; the physician’s specialty and whether the patient received psychotherapy. Here are some key findings from the study:
The availability of new antipsychotics with fewer side effects in adults may have contributed to the increase. In addition, fewer inpatient care options are available for children with mental illnesses, requiring physicians to treat more seriously ill children in an outpatient setting. These severely ill patients are more likely to require powerful medications like antipsychotics. Although these medications may be safe and effective for some mental disorders in pediatric patients, further research is needed to confirm this and provide detailed information about benefits and risks, the authors write. “In recent years, second-generation antipsychotic medications have become common in the office-based mental health treatment of young people,” the researchers conclude. “These medications are used to treat children and adolescents with different mental disorders. Results of clinical trials provide a limited base of support for the short-term safety and efficacy of some second-generation antipsychotic medications for psychosis and disruptive behavior disorders. In light of the widespread and growing use of these medications, there is a pressing need to increase and extend the experimental evaluation of these medications in children and adolescents.” Editor’s Note: This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and by an Alicia Koplowitz Foundation Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Olfson has received grants from Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb and has served as a consultant to Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb and McNeil Pharmaceuticals. The Journal of the American Medical Association, which publishes Archives of General Psychiatry, gave NARSAD: The Mental Health Association permission to reprint the above press release. |
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