Back to Search
Start Over
Psychotropic Medication Use in Children and Adolescents With Down Syndrome
- Source :
- Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP. 36(8)
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- To estimate the rate of psychotropic medication use in children and adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) and to describe age-related trends.Data were obtained from electronic health records from 2010 to 2013 for a retrospective cohort of 832 children with DS, aged 5 to 21 years, including 5324 visits. The following medication classes: central nervous system (CNS) stimulants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, atypical antipsychotics, and alpha adrenergic agonists were examined. The distribution of rates of medication use across ages was assessed graphically and with the Cochran-Armitage trend test. Between-group comparisons of medication classes were conducted using χ. Repeated measures models with generalized estimating equations were used to assess changes in rates of medication use over time.Children aged 12 to 21 years were more likely to be on any medication at some point compared with children aged 5 to 11 years (25% vs 17%, respectively, p = .003). For 5 to 11 year olds, the odds of being on a psychotropic medication increased with age for all medication classes studied. For 12 to 18 year olds, the odds of being on a CNS stimulant significantly decreased with increasing age (odds ratio: 0.73, 95% confidence intervals, 0.58-0.91), whereas the odds of being on a medication from one of the other classes was stable.Changes in psychotropic medication use across the age span in children with DS suggest that the type and severity of neurobehavioral problems in this population likely also change over time. These findings will inform future research on the common mental health conditions and treatments for children with DS.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Down syndrome
Pediatrics
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Health records
Psychotropic medication
Cohort Studies
Young Adult
Developmental and Educational Psychology
medicine
Electronic Health Records
Humans
Child
business.industry
Age Factors
Retrospective cohort study
medicine.disease
Psychiatry and Mental health
Child, Preschool
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Central Nervous System Stimulants
Female
Down Syndrome
business
Adrenergic alpha-Agonists
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
Antipsychotic Agents
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15367312
- Volume :
- 36
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....6f3097f3dfab040e81b7a2f914613fe0