TY - JOUR
T1 - Patterns of Psychotropic Prescribing Practices in Autistic Children and Adolescents
T2 - An Australian Perspective of Two Cohorts Five Years Apart
AU - Baldes, Anna
AU - May, Tamara
AU - Brignell, Amanda
AU - Williams, Katrina
N1 - Funding Information:
The LSAC was initiated and funded by the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and was managed by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The findings and views reported in this article are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, or the Australian Institute of Family Studies. We thank all the families participating in the LSAC study.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - This study aims to describe the utilisation of psychotropic medications in Australian autistic children and adolescents. All children and adolescents with available Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data who endorsed an autism diagnosis in The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, including both B (n = 233, age 0–1 years in wave 1) and K cohorts (n = 157, age 4–5 years in wave 1), were included to describe psychotropic prescribing patterns. 212 (54.4%) autistic children and adolescents received at least one psychotropic prescription and 99 (25.4%) had polypharmacy. The most common psychotropic class prescribed was antidepressants (31.3%). Children in the B cohort were more likely to have a parent-reported diagnosis of anxiety or depression (χ2 = 12.18, p < 0.001) and tended to be more likely to have received a psychotropic prescription (χ2 = 3.54, p = 0.06). Psychotropic prescribing in Australian autistic children is common despite limited evidence for efficacy and tolerability of psychotropics in this group.
AB - This study aims to describe the utilisation of psychotropic medications in Australian autistic children and adolescents. All children and adolescents with available Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data who endorsed an autism diagnosis in The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, including both B (n = 233, age 0–1 years in wave 1) and K cohorts (n = 157, age 4–5 years in wave 1), were included to describe psychotropic prescribing patterns. 212 (54.4%) autistic children and adolescents received at least one psychotropic prescription and 99 (25.4%) had polypharmacy. The most common psychotropic class prescribed was antidepressants (31.3%). Children in the B cohort were more likely to have a parent-reported diagnosis of anxiety or depression (χ2 = 12.18, p < 0.001) and tended to be more likely to have received a psychotropic prescription (χ2 = 3.54, p = 0.06). Psychotropic prescribing in Australian autistic children is common despite limited evidence for efficacy and tolerability of psychotropics in this group.
KW - Australia
KW - Autism
KW - Autism spectrum disorder
KW - Drug utilisation
KW - Psychotropic drugs
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85194964158&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10578-024-01710-5
DO - 10.1007/s10578-024-01710-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 38824199
AN - SCOPUS:85194964158
SN - 0009-398X
JO - Child Psychiatry & Human Development
JF - Child Psychiatry & Human Development
ER -
