Rising antipsychotic prescriptions for children and youth: Cross-sectoral solutions for a multimodal problem

摘要

In the past 10 years, off-label prescribing of antipsychotic medications to Canadian children and youth has risen dramatically despite a lack of strong evidence for efficacy and serious adverse effects.15 According to Canadian pharma-coepidemiologic data, antipsychotic medications have been prescribed for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (17%), mood and conduct disorders (14%-16%) and psychosis (13%) in young people.4 Currently, aripiprazole, a second-generation antipsychotic drug, is approved in Canada for the treatment of bipolar I disorder (manic or mixed episodes) in youth 13-17 years old and for schizophrenia in those 15-17 years old.