Antipsychotic medication, psychiatric diagnosis and children with intellectual disability: a 12-year follow-up study.

This study is a follow-up to an original survey carried out in the early 1980s of all children with an identified intellectual disability in Cornwall, England. The purpose of this second study was to review the use of antipsychotic medication in these children and to relate it to their various diagnoses. This is a relatively under-researched area, and the few comparable studies in children have not been designed to specify diagnoses, psychiatric or otherwise. A positive relationship between the diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders in children and the use of antipsychotic medication was one of the important findings which emerged from the research. The possible reasons for this association are discussed.