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Sound Off on Psych MedsAdvocating for prudent medication use

There was a 500% increase in the number of doctor’s visits where children received prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs between 1993 and 2002.

Researchers examined data on youth aged 0 to 20 years collected in the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NMCS) over ten years (1993 through 2002). During this ten year period, the number of doctor’s visits that included antipsychotic treatment increased from approximately 201,000 in 1993 to 1,224,000 in 2002.

From the source:

“There has been a sharp national increase in antipsychotic treatment among children and adolescents in office-based medical practice.”

Tags:

Antipsychotic medication

Citation:

Olfson M, Blanco C, Liu L, Moreno C, Laje G. National trends in the outpatient treatment of children and adolescents with antipsychotic drugsArch Gen Psychiatry. 2006; 63(6):679-685.