Many Young Children with Autism Who Use Psychotropic Medication Do Not Receive Behavior Therapy: A Multisite Case-Control Study

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Pediatr
• Personal Author:
  Wiggins, Lisa D. ; Nadler, Cy ; Rosenberg, Steven ; Moody, Eric ; Reyes, Nuri ; Reynolds, Ann ; Alexander, Aimee ; Daniels, Julie ; Thomas, Kathleen ; Giarelli, Ellen ; Levy, Susan E.
• Description:
  Objectives
  
  To explore how many pre-school aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) used psychotropic medication, child and geographic factors associated with psychotropic medication use, and how many children who used psychotropic medication did or did not ever receive behavior therapy.
  
  Study design
  
  Children 2–5 years of age were enrolled from 2012 to 2016 in a multisite case-control study designed to investigate the development and risk factors of ASD. Children with a positive ASD screen or ASD diagnosis upon enrollment were asked to complete a comprehensive evaluation to determine ASD status and developmental level. Caregivers completed a Services and Treatments Questionnaire and multiple self-administered questionnaires to determine child use of psychotropic medication, ever receipt of behavior therapy, and presence of co-occurring symptoms.
  
  Results
  
  There were 763 children who were classified as ASD and had data collected on the Services and Treatments Questionnaire. Of those, 62 (8.1%) used psychotropic medication to treat behavioral symptoms and 28 (3.7%) were ≤3 years of age when medication was first started. Attention problems (aOR, 7.65; 95% CI, 3.41–16.1; P < .001) and study site (aOR, 2.62; 95% CI, 1.04–6.56; P = .04) were significantly associated with psychotropic medication use after controlling for maternal race/ethnicity. More than one-half (59.7%) of those who used psychotropic medication did not ever receive behavior therapy.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Many preschool-aged children with ASD who use psychotropic medication do not receive behavior therapy. Pediatricians are an important resource for children and families and can help facilitate behavioral treatment for children with ASD and other disorders.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Autism Spectrum Disorder Behavior Therapy Case-Control Studies Child, Preschool Combined Modality Therapy Drug Utilization Female Health Care Surveys Health Services Accessibility Humans Male Practice Patterns, Physicians' Psychotropic Drugs Treatment Outcome United States

  More +
• Source:
  J Pediatr. 232:264-271
• Pubmed ID:
  33493493
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8174527
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U01 DD000757/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD000746/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U10 DD000901/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD001216/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD001210/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD000750/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD000748/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 DD000749/DD/NCBDD CDC HHSUnited States/ ; CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  232
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f7a1402f6377eabbe6582a1c3ae36b16d75e5aefb7ee2e2de041032db78f5dc5dfc08637e2d42b81770646b0970b82fd9a93117402e51238d645b1e71bf72b6b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/106850/cdc_106850_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 345.54 KB ]