English summary: Psychotropic medication use in children in urgent psychiatric inpatient care

Background

There has been a significant increase in psychotropic medication use in children and adolescents in recent years. The increased trend in psychotropic drug prescription has been seen in several countries, including Finland. Since most psychotropic drugs are not licensed for use in children, the child psychiatric medical use is primarily off-label. Research in psychopharmacology for children has also increased following the increased off-label use. There is very little published information on psychotropic drug use in children in Finland.

Methods

We studied all inpatient treatment periods of children who had been referred to Kuopio University Hospital for urgent psychiatric inpatient care in a period of three years. Each patient’s then-current medication was recorded on arrival at the hospital. The study was done retrospectively using patient records.

Results

There were 209 treatment periods in the three-year period between 1.1.2006 and 31.12.2008. The most common reasons for urgent child psychiatric inpatient care in this population were aggressiveness, suicidal behaviour and depression. 39.2% of these children were prescribed psychotropic medication. The most commonly used psychotropic drug was risperidone. Boys received psychotropic medication significantly more often than girls.

Conclusions

Children requiring urgent psychiatric inpatient care are often on psychotropic medication. More research is needed to investigate the efficacy and safety and possible long-term adverse effects of psychotropic medications in children.