Psychotropic co-medication among stimulant-treated children in The Netherlands

Area of Science:

• Pediatric pharmacology
• Drug utilization studies
• Child and adolescent psychiatry

Background:

• Stimulant medications are frequently prescribed for pediatric conditions.
• Understanding trends in stimulant use and co-medication is crucial for clinical practice.
• Psychotropic co-medication patterns in children require ongoing investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze stimulant use trends in the Dutch pediatric population from 1998 to 2002.
• To investigate the prevalence and patterns of psychotropic co-medication in children using stimulants.
• To identify changes in co-medication over the study period.

Main Methods:

• A drug utilization study utilizing community pharmacy-dispensing data.
• Inclusion of pediatric patients aged 0-19 years in the northern and eastern Netherlands.
• Data collection spanning the years 1998 to 2002.

Main Results:

• The prevalence of stimulant use in children increased from 0.6% to 1.2% between 1998 and 2002.
• Longest stimulant treatment durations were observed in children aged 5-14 years.
• Psychotropic co-medication use in stimulant users rose from 12% to nearly 15%, with antipsychotics being the most common (7.9% in 2002).
• Antidepressant co-medication increased from 0% in 1998 to 1.8% in 2002.

Conclusions:

• Stimulant use among children in the Netherlands has notably increased, primarily due to extended treatment durations.
• There was a moderate rise in psychotropic co-medication among stimulant-treated children.
• These findings highlight evolving treatment practices in pediatric psychopharmacology.