More kids nationwide are taking medications designed to treat such mental illnesses as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and pediatricians and psychiatrists at the University of Vermont want to know why.
Led by David Rettew, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics, the researchers conducted a study to find out "whether the right youth are being prescribed the right medications at the proper time in their treatment," they state in their study in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics. Their findings, for the first time, delve into the clinical decision-making process of physicians who prescribe these drugs.
"There are risks associated with using these medicines," Rettew says. "At the same time, I think they've saved lives."
Many studies have pointed to increasing use of antipsychotic medications for pediatric patients. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that treatment with such drugs climbed 62 percent for children on Medicaid between 2002 and 2007, reaching 2.4 percent of those youth.
Rettew says he -- along with fellow members of a Vermont state task force that keeps watch on use of psychiatric medications for young people -- wanted to answer the question: "Is this a reasonable thing, or are these medications potentially being overused?"
[For more of this story go to http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.../03/150302071353.htm]
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