Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Behavior Problems, and Psychotropic Drug Use in Children and Adolescents With Mental Retardation

Abstract

Antipsychotic drugs were associated with pervasive developmental disorder, whereas clonidine and stimulants were associated with self-absorbed and disruptive behavior, respectively. Although clonidine and risperidone are not registered for the problems reported and the other nonstimulants were only sometimes used on-label, their use was associated with specific psychiatric or behavioral problems.

Psychotropic Medication Use Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Enrolled in a National Registry, 2007–2008

“…In this registry, prevalence of psychotropic medication use was 35%, consistent with other smaller, communitybased studies (Aman et al 2005;de Bildt et al 2006;Green et al 2006;Martin et al 1999;Witwer and Lecavalier 2005) but considerably lower than the 56% found by Mandell et al (2008). This discrepancy is not unexpected, since Mandell et al relied on a sample of Medicaidenrolled children, which likely included a greater proportion of children with severe impairments than did our sample (Martin et al 2002;Safer et al 2004;Zito et al 2005).…”

“…Using private-insurance claims (Oswald and Sonenklar 2007;Shimabukuro et al 2008) and data from a nationally representative sample (de Bildt et al 2006), other research found similar direct relationships among age, ASD severity, and prescription medication use. These studies and others (Aman and Langworthy 2000;Martin et al 1999;Witwer and Lecavalier 2005) have not examined the roles of demographic factors beyond age, sex, or type of ASD.…”

“…For example, Chen and Chang (2002) found that compared with publicly or privately insured children, those without any insurance had lower likelihood of prescription medication use; yet, Martin et al(2002) reported that psychotropic medication use was much higher in Medicaid-enrolled versus privately insured groups. Related studies have not examined or reported the potential role of insurance status in determining psychotropic medication use (Aman et al 2005;de Bildt et al 2006;Green et al 2006;Witwer and Lecavalier 2005).…”

Medication use among Australian adults with intellectual disability in primary healthcare settings: A cross-sectional study

“…Medications were grouped into categories according to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classifi cation system developed by the World Health Organization for international studies of medication utilisation (World Health Organization, 2009). Psychotropic medications were defi ned as medical agents for the central nervous system, excluding analgesics and anticonvulsants (de Bildt, Mulder, Scheers, Minderaa, & Tobi, 2006). They included antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, psychostimulants, hypnotics/sedatives, anti-Parkinson medications, and opioid antagonists (de Bildt et al, 2006).…”

“…Psychotropic medications were defi ned as medical agents for the central nervous system, excluding analgesics and anticonvulsants (de Bildt, Mulder, Scheers, Minderaa, & Tobi, 2006). They included antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics, psychostimulants, hypnotics/sedatives, anti-Parkinson medications, and opioid antagonists (de Bildt et al, 2006). Demographic information including age, gender, level of ID, and usual residence was attained through telephone interviews with the participants ' care providers at the commencement of the trial.…”