Medication Use in Youth With Autism and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may benefit from medication to treat a diverse array of behaviors and health conditions common in this population including co-occurring conditions associated with ASD, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety. However, prescribing guidelines are lacking and research providing national estimates of medication use in youth with ASD is scant. We examined a nationally representative sample of children and youth ages 6 to 17 with a current diagnosis of ASD to estimate the prevalence and correlates of psychotropic medication. METHODS: This study used data from the 2016 and 2017 National Survey of Children's Health. We estimated unadjusted prevalence rates and used multivariable logistic regression to estimate the odds of medication use in children and youth across 3 groups: those with ASD-only, those with ASD and ADHD, and those with ADHD-only. RESULTS: Two thirds of children ages 6 to 11 and three quarters of youth ages 12 to 17 with ASD and ADHD were taking medication, similar to children (73%) and youth with ADHD-only (70%) and more than children (13%) and youth with ASD-only (22%). There were no correlates of medication use that were consistent across group and medication type. Youth with ASD and ADHD were more likely to be taking medication for emotion, concentration, or behavior than youth with ADHD-only, and nearly half took ASD-specific medication. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the literature on medication use in children and youth with ASD, presenting recent, nationally representative estimates of high prevalence of psychotropic drug use among children with ASD and ADHD.
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The estimate of polypharmacy in this study is higher than reports from prior longitudinal studies in solely pediatric populations with ASD.
“This estimate is higher than reports from prior longitudinal studies in solely pediatric populations with ASD.”
From Medication use in the management of comorbidities among individuals with autism spectrum disorder from a large nationwide insurance database (2021) · cites this paper as [48]
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- Authors
- Rast, J. E., Anderson, K. A., Roux, A. M., & Shattuck, P. T.
- Affiliations
- Drexel University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rast, Jessica E.
- Venue
- Academic Pediatrics
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-03
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 272-279
- ISSN
- 1876-2859 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3032828664
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 0.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Academic Pediatrics (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Maternal and Child Health Bureau
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, psychotropic drugs, drug use prevalence, children and young people, comorbidities, anxiety, prescribing guidelines, National Survey of Children's Health
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adolescent, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Autistic Disorder, Child, Humans, Psychotropic Drugs, Prevalence
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