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Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia

Psychotropic medication use is rising among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Saudi Arabia. Two hundred ninety-three parents of children diagnosed with ASD completed a parental concerns questionnaire (PCQ) online to examine children’s family socio-demographics, health conditions and c...

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Autores principales: Alenezi, Shuliweeh, Alnemary, Fahad, Alamri, Asma, Albakr, Dalal, Abualkhair, Lamees, Alnemary, Faisal
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9322379/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35883950
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children9070966
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author Alenezi, Shuliweeh
Alnemary, Fahad
Alamri, Asma
Albakr, Dalal
Abualkhair, Lamees
Alnemary, Faisal
author_facet Alenezi, Shuliweeh
Alnemary, Fahad
Alamri, Asma
Albakr, Dalal
Abualkhair, Lamees
Alnemary, Faisal
author_sort Alenezi, Shuliweeh
collection PubMed
description Psychotropic medication use is rising among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Saudi Arabia. Two hundred ninety-three parents of children diagnosed with ASD completed a parental concerns questionnaire (PCQ) online to examine children’s family socio-demographics, health conditions and comorbidities, and past and current exposure to psychotropic medication as prescribed by their primary doctor. Findings revealed that more than one-third of the parents (39.08%) reported that their children were using medications at the time of the survey; risperidone (53%), methylphenidate (30%), and valproic acid (9%) were the most commonly used. A smaller number of parents stated that their children had previously used medications (16.09%). The most often prescribed drugs among this group were risperidone (45%), followed by methylphenidate (32%) and valproic acid (17%). The variables that showed a statistically significant association with the current use of psychotropic drugs were the child’s age (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.40, p < 0.001), presence of comorbidities (OR = 7.75, 95% CI: 3.48, 17.24, p < 0.001), communication difficulties (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.95, p < 0.021), and anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.00, 2.87, p < 0.049). Similarly, the child’s age (OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.40, p < 0.002) and presence of comorbidities (OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.16, 6.29, p < 0.022) showed statistically significant associations with previous use.
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spelling pubmed-93223792022-07-27 Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia Alenezi, Shuliweeh Alnemary, Fahad Alamri, Asma Albakr, Dalal Abualkhair, Lamees Alnemary, Faisal Children (Basel) Article Psychotropic medication use is rising among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Saudi Arabia. Two hundred ninety-three parents of children diagnosed with ASD completed a parental concerns questionnaire (PCQ) online to examine children’s family socio-demographics, health conditions and comorbidities, and past and current exposure to psychotropic medication as prescribed by their primary doctor. Findings revealed that more than one-third of the parents (39.08%) reported that their children were using medications at the time of the survey; risperidone (53%), methylphenidate (30%), and valproic acid (9%) were the most commonly used. A smaller number of parents stated that their children had previously used medications (16.09%). The most often prescribed drugs among this group were risperidone (45%), followed by methylphenidate (32%) and valproic acid (17%). The variables that showed a statistically significant association with the current use of psychotropic drugs were the child’s age (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.40, p < 0.001), presence of comorbidities (OR = 7.75, 95% CI: 3.48, 17.24, p < 0.001), communication difficulties (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.95, p < 0.021), and anxiety symptoms (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.00, 2.87, p < 0.049). Similarly, the child’s age (OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.40, p < 0.002) and presence of comorbidities (OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.16, 6.29, p < 0.022) showed statistically significant associations with previous use. MDPI 2022-06-28 /pmc/articles/PMC9322379/ /pubmed/35883950 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children9070966 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Alenezi, Shuliweeh
Alnemary, Fahad
Alamri, Asma
Albakr, Dalal
Abualkhair, Lamees
Alnemary, Faisal
Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia
title Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia
title_full Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia
title_short Psychotropic Medications Use among Children with Autism in Saudi Arabia
title_sort psychotropic medications use among children with autism in saudi arabia
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9322379/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35883950
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children9070966
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