Prescription of psychotropic medications to youths in office-based practice

Objective: This study sought to determine sociodemographic characteristics of treatment of children and adolescents for whom psychotropic medications are prescribed and to describe the clinical management approaches associate d with the prescription of each major class of psychotropic medication in o ffice-based medical practices in the United States. Methods: Data for a fou r-year period (1992-1996) were drawn from the National Ambulatory, Medical Care Survey, a nationally representative survey of office-based medical pra ctices, to determine prescribing patterns, patients' sociodemographic chara cteristics, and clinical management approaches associated with visits durin g which psychotropic medications were prescribed to patients aged 19 years or under. Results: Psychotropic medications were prescribed during 2.2 perc ent of all visits. A majority of the prescriptions for psychotropic medicat ions (84.8 percent) were provided by general practitioners or pediatricians . For the visits during which a psychotropic medication was prescribed, sti mulants were the most commonly prescribed (53.9 percent of such visits), bu t prescription of other classes of medications was not uncommon: antidepres sants (30 percent), anxiolytics (7.2 percent), antipsychotics (7.2 percent) , and mood stabilizers (12.7 percent). Significant differences were observe d in the prescription of each class of medication by sex, race, and payment source. Conclusions: General practitioners and pediatricians have a role i n the office-based treatment of youths with psychotropic medications.