Rast Jessica E, Tao Sha, Schott Whitney, Shea Lindsay L, Brodkin Edward S, Kerns Connor M, Leonard Charles E, Murray Michael J, Lee Brian K
A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 Jan;55(1):258-266. doi: 10.1007/s10803-023-06182-5. Epub 2023 Dec 18.
Children with autism frequently present with complex mental health diagnoses and psychotropic medications are often a component of comprehensive biopsychosocial treatment plans for these conditions. The purpose of this study is to provide rates and patterns of psychotropic medication use, and predictors thereof, in children and youth with autism enrolled in Medicaid across the US. This study examined national Medicaid claims from 2008 to 2016 of all children and youth with autism ages 0-21 years enrolled in Medicaid. Psychotropic medication use was examined across several child and youth characteristics, including age, co-occurring mental health conditions, sex, and race and ethnicity. About half of children and youth with autism enrolled in Medicaid had at least one psychotropic prescription in a year, a number that decreased slightly across the study period due to decreases in the prescription of antipsychotics. As new medications for autism or co-occurring conditions are developed and deployed, and as the understanding of the characteristics of the population of children with autism evolves, studying rates of medication usage helps to understand utilization patterns and differences in access to quality care.
患有自闭症的儿童经常伴有复杂的心理健康诊断，而精神药物通常是针对这些病症的综合生物心理社会治疗计划的一部分。本研究的目的是提供美国参加医疗补助计划的自闭症儿童和青少年使用精神药物的比率及模式，以及其预测因素。本研究调查了2008年至2016年期间所有参加医疗补助计划的0至21岁自闭症儿童和青少年的全国医疗补助报销记录。研究了精神药物使用情况与儿童和青少年的多个特征之间的关系，包括年龄、并发的心理健康状况、性别以及种族和民族。参加医疗补助计划的自闭症儿童和青少年中，约有一半在一年内至少有一张精神药物处方，由于抗精神病药物处方量的减少，这一数字在研究期间略有下降。随着针对自闭症或并发病症的新药物的研发和应用，以及对自闭症儿童群体特征认识的不断发展，研究药物使用比率有助于了解用药模式以及获得优质护理的差异。
