Study examines psychiatric drug prescription patterns in youths

Researchers examined the IMS LifeLink Longitudinal Prescriptions (LRx) database involving nearly 6.4 million children and adolescents ages 3 to 24 and found that stimulant and antidepressant prescription rates and age/gender distributions were consistent with the prevalence of anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and depression among youths, which challenges the notion that such drugs are overprescribed for youths. The findings in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology showed more complex prescribing patterns for antipsychotics, which researchers said may be because those drugs are used for a wider range of approved and off-label conditions.   eMPR