UK Researchers Express Concern Over The Growing Rate Of Antipsychotic Prescriptions Among Children And Adolescents

The rate of children and adolescents being prescribed antipsychotics in English general practice nearly doubled between 2000 and 2009, rising from 0.06% to 0.11%. This finding and more were revealed in a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Manchester’s Center for Women’s Mental Health.
Antipsychotic drugs, which result in a tranquilizing effect, are commonly used to treat major mental illnesses– like schizophrenia– among adult patients.
And while the drugs can help patients manage symptoms of psychosis to feel more in control, they are also linked with significant adverse side effects– including infertility and weight gain that leads to diabetes.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence in the U.K. has also approved antipsychotic use among patients under the age of 18 who have psychosis or severely aggressive behavior as a result of conduct disorder.
Per the new study, though, the researchers have suggested that these drugs are being prescribed for an increasingly wide range of disorders, with the most common being Autism spectrum disorder.
The study analyzed 7.2 million children and adolescents primary care records who were registered at select English General Practices between 2000 and 2019. The study participants’ ages ranged from 3 to 18-years-old.
As compared to the population, the overall proportion of youth who were prescribed antipsychotics was small. However, the rise from 0.06% in 2000 to 0.11% in 2019 has alarmed the researchers.
They claim that this increase is a cause for concern because the drugs’ safety among children, who are still undergoing rapid developmental changes, has not been firmly established.
“This study demonstrates a concerning trend in antipsychotic prescribing in children and adolescents. We do not think the changes necessarily relate to changes in clinical need; rather, it may be more likely to reflect changes in prescribing practice by clinicians,” explained Dr. Mathias Pierce, a senior research fellow who co-led the study.

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“However, this study will help clinicians to evaluate the prescribing of antipsychotics to children more fully and will encourage them to consider better access to alternatives.”
The study also revealed that boys and older adolescents– between the ages of 15 and 18– were more likely to receive antipsychotic prescriptions as compared to girls and younger children. Nonetheless, the overall rising trend was present among all groups.
Additionally, an older class of antipsychotics which might be associated with extrapyramidal side effects like movement disorders were more frequently prescribed in deprived areas.
“It is notable and relevant to the current discourse that we report inequities in prescribing as a result of deprivation levels; and that the indications for which approvals are available are no longer the commonest reason these medications are being prescribed,” said Professor Kathryn Abel, one of the study’s senior authors.
“Broadening use of antipsychotics in developing young people begs questions about their safety over time and demands more research on this topic.”
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in The Lancet Psychiatry, visit the link here.
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