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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Marleen Radigan, MS, MPH, Peter Lannon, BA, Patrick Roohan, MS, and Foster Gesten, MD. Office of Managed Care, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Corning Tower, Room 1938, Albany, NY 12237, (518) 486-9012, msr09@health.state.ny.us
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of pharmacotherapy for children diagnosed with uncomplicated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with children diagnosed with ADHD and psychiatric comorbidity. METHODS: Children (0-19 years old) continuously enrolled in NYS Medicaid managed care in 2000 with any psychiatric diagnosis (n=25478) were selected from administrative data. A subset with psychotropic prescriptions (n=8135) were identified. Patterns of pharmacotherapy were examined for children with ADHD (n=6879), with uncomplicated ADHD (n=4241) and with ADHD and psychiatric comorbidity (n=2638). RESULTS: Children with ADHD represented 60% (n=4852) of all children receiving psychotropic medication. Children with ADHD and two or more comorbid conditions were more likely to have been prescribed any psychotropic medication (77%) compared with children with ADHD and one comorbid group (70%) or uncomplicated ADHD (69%) (Pr<.0001). Children with ADHD and two or more comorbid conditions were more likely to have received psychotropic medication from two or more major therapeutic groups (43%) compared to children with one comorbid condition (27%) or children with uncomplicated ADHD (18%) (Pr<.0001). Preliminary bivariate analyses indicated that patterns of psychotropic prescription for ADHD with specific comorbid diagnoses differed. Multivariate analyses including demographic and service provider variables are being conducted. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis supported prior findings of high levels of psychotropic medication treatment for children diagnosed with ADHD. An increasing number of comorbid conditions coincided with an increasing number of types of psychotropic medications.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Child/Adolescent Mental Health,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.