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Antipsychotic Use May Increase Diabetes Risk in Some Children

Published on April 28, 2015 in Cornerstone Blog · Last updated 2 weeks ago
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Researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s PolicyLab recently published the largest study to date documenting the significant risks to children’s health associated with prescription antipsychotics, a powerful a class of medications used to treat mental and behavioral health disorders.

The results, which were published in JAMA Pediatrics, suggest that initiating antipsychotics may elevate a child’s risk not only for significant weight gain, but also for Type II diabetes by nearly 50 percent. Moreover, among children who are also receiving antidepressants, the risk may double. Previous PolicyLab research showed that one in three youth receiving antidepressants in the Medicaid program were receiving an antipsychotic at the same time.

In a blog post about the study, Policylab co-Director David Rubin, MD, MSCE, notes, “These new findings should give us pause. With such vast numbers of children being exposed to these medications, the implications for potential long-lasting harm can be jarring.”  Dr. Rubin is also a professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Traditionally, antipsychotics have been narrowly prescribed to children with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, or to those with significant developmental delays who were displaying aggressive behaviors that were potentially injurious to themselves or others. However, in recent years, antipsychotics are increasingly being prescribed in the absence of strong supporting safety and efficacy data to treat healthier children and adolescents with disruptive behaviors, such as those who are diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The JAMA Pediatrics study, which used Medicaid data on more than 1.3 million youth ages 10 to 18 with a mental health diagnosis from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, must be interpreted in the context of emerging evidence that Medicaid-enrolled children are far more likely than privately insured children to be prescribed antipsychotic medications. Overall, over 25 percent of Medicaid-enrolled children receiving prescription medications for behavioral problems were prescribed antipsychotics by 2008, largely for less severe disorders.

Despite the number of children being exposed to antipsychotics, the researchers remain cautious about over-reacting to these findings.

“We need to incorporate these new revelations about the risk for diabetes into a more thoughtful consideration of the true risks and benefits of prescribing an antipsychotic to a child,” Dr. Rubin said. “Yes, we should try, by all means possible, to minimize the numbers of children and adolescents exposed to these powerful medications. But for some children in immediate crisis, we must also concede that the benefit of the antipsychotic for acute management may still outweigh the risk.”

The study’s authors recommend that clinicians and families who are making medication decisions periodically revisit the treatment strategy to address challenging behaviors. For example, when planning to prescribe antipsychotics to a child, professional organizations recommend beginning cautiously with the lowest dose possible, while strictly monitoring for early evidence of weight gain or abnormal lab tests that often predict later onset of diabetes.

Ultimately, say Dr. Rubin and his co-authors, the prescription of antipsychotics to children and adolescents is likely to continue, reflecting a growing demand to address very challenging behaviors in children.

“At the end of the day, the approach to the individual child who is in crisis is still a case-by-case decision between a family and the treating provider,” said Dr. Rubin. “We can only hope that those decisions are made in full recognition of our findings, and that for some children, alternatives to these powerful medications—such as counseling or other supportive services, will be considered first.”

For more information about the study, see the full press release. To learn more about PolicyLab’s portfolio of work on antipsychotic medications, visit http://www.research.chop.edu/PolicyLab.