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Trends in prescribing of psychotropic medications for inpatient adolescents in Israel: A 10 years retrospective analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Y. Gilat ,
D.H. Ben-Dor ,
A. Magen ,
L. Wolovick ,
M. Vekslerchik ,
A. Weizman  and
G. Zalsman
Y. Gilat*
Affiliation:
Child and Adolscent Division, Geha Mental Health Center, 1 Helsinki St, PO Box 102, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel
D.H. Ben-Dor
Affiliation:
Child and Adolscent Division, Geha Mental Health Center, 1 Helsinki St, PO Box 102, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel
A. Magen
Affiliation:
Child and Adolscent Division, Geha Mental Health Center, 1 Helsinki St, PO Box 102, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel
L. Wolovick
Affiliation:
Child and Adolscent Division, Geha Mental Health Center, 1 Helsinki St, PO Box 102, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel
M. Vekslerchik
Affiliation:
Child and Adolscent Division, Geha Mental Health Center, 1 Helsinki St, PO Box 102, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel
A. Weizman
Affiliation:
Child and Adolscent Division, Geha Mental Health Center, 1 Helsinki St, PO Box 102, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel Research Unit, Geha Mental Health Center and Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Petah Tikva, Israel
G. Zalsman
Affiliation:
Child and Adolscent Division, Geha Mental Health Center, 1 Helsinki St, PO Box 102, Petah Tikva 49100, Israel Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel Molecular Imaging and Psychopathology Division, Psychaitry Department, Columbia University, NY, USA
*
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +972 3 925 8367; fax: +972 3 924 1041. E-mail address: yarong@hotmail.com
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Abstract

We examined the trends in prescribing psychotropic drugs to children and adolescents within an inpatients adolescent psychiatric ward in Israel. Data of 414 subjects, ranging from 12- to 22-year-old, covering the years 1997, 2002 and 2007, was examined retrospectively. Analyzed variables included the number and type of drug prescriptions per patient at discharge, the subjects’ age at discharge and the number of diagnoses per patient at discharge. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures was used to evaluate changes between the three calendar years, along the 10-year study period, while Pearson χ2 test was performed for categorical variables. Over the study period the mean age at discharge decreased significantly, by about a year and a half, the mean number of diagnoses increased significantly, from 1.6 to 2.4 diagnoses per patient and the total number of drugs prescribed at discharge increased significantly from 1.48 to 1.93 per patient. Overall, the number of patients who were prescribed mood stabilizers increased by 14%, those who were prescribed antidepressants increased by almost 24%, almost 16% in antipsychotics prescriptions and 51.5% in prescriptions of atypical antipsychotics. Typical antipsychotic prescriptions decreased by 35.5% and accordingly, the number of patients who were prescribed agents for the treatment of extra-pyramidal side effects decreased by almost 24%. Due to a low number of inpatients with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), no significant statistical conclusion could be drawn regarding trends in psychostimulant prescriptions. Our findings agree with other published studies from the last two decades. The growing use of psychotropic agents in children and adolescents merit a continuous concern with regard to their effects on the developing brain and impact on quality of life and to authorizing these drugs for use in specific young age subgroups.

Keywords

Psychotropic medicationsTrendsChildren and adolescents
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , May 2011 , pp. 265 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2011

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Footnotes

1

The two first authors contributed equally to this paper.

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