International:
Use of psych drugs on teens soars, study finds
By TERRY WEBER
Tuesday, January 3, 2006 Posted at 1:17 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
The number of prescriptions written to U.S. teens for psychotropic drugs jumped 250 per cent over a seven-year period, with a sharp spike coming after the U.S. government loosened advertising rules, new research suggests.
The study, conducted by researchers at Brandeis University, found that between 1994 and 2001 drugs used to treat mood and behaviour disorders soared.
They also found a particularly sharp jump after 1999 when the U.S. government moved to allow direct-to-consumer advertising and looser promotion of off-label use of prescription drugs.
By 2001, the study found, one in 10 office visits by teenage boys resulted in a prescription for a psychotropic drug.
For between 14 per cent and 26 per cent of visits over the study period, researchers found, similar drugs were prescribed without a related mental-health diagnosis.
Psychotropic drugs are used to treat a range of emotional and mental illnesses, including depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
"This is an alarming increase in prescribing these drugs to teens, and the reasons for this trend need further scrutiny," Cindy Parks Thomas, lead author of the study, said.
"Our study suggests a number of factors may be particularly important to assess, including the impact of direct-to-consumer advertising and other marketing strategies."
Other possible factors, the study noted, may also include a greater acceptance of psychotropic drugs by both physicians and members of the public, an increase in new medications with fewer side effects, increased screening for mental disorders and patient demand for the drugs.
Researchers also found, however, that while more prescriptions were being written for psychotropic drugs for teenagers, fewer for other kinds of drugs were being given out.
For example, the study said, the use of antibiotics – the most widely prescribed drug for teenagers – fell dramatically. That decline came alongside widespread public health campaigns raising fears that overuse of antibiotics might lead to development of resistance by diseases.
The findings were published in the journal Psychiatric Services.
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