ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2013
Prevalence of psychotropic drug use in adults with intellectual disability: positive and negative findings from a large scale study.
Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 42 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 131 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pharmacological intervention for irritability, aggression, and self-injury in autism spectrum disorder (ASD).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Pharmacogenomic Studies in Intellectual Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2021Pooled it
- Prevalence of Psychotropic Use and Psychotropic Polypharmacy in a Finnish National Cohort of Persons With Intellectual Disabilities.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2026Observational
- Medication Growth Following Diagnosis of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at Varying Ages Throughout Childhood.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2026Article
- Antipsychotic Drug Prescriptions for Transition-Age Youth on the Autism Spectrum.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Treatment of Challenging Behaviour in Children and Youth With an Intellectual Disability With or Without Autism.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID · 2026Article
- A Rapid Mapping Review of Medication Burden in Adults with an Intellectual Disability: What We Know and What We Do Not Know.Drug, healthcare and patient safety · 2026Review
- Prevalence of Psychotropic Medication Use and Psychotropic Polypharmacy in Autistic Adults With or Without Intellectual Disability.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Exploring Connections Between Living Situations and Antipsychotic Prescribing Practices for People With Intellectual Disabilities.Psychiatric research and clinical practice · 2025Article
- Prevalence and prescribers' knowledge of psychotropic polypharmacy in the Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo Regions, Ghana.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Special Considerations for Management of Diabetes in Adult Patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.Advances in medicine · 2023Review
- Psychotropic drugs intake in people aging with intellectual disability: Prevalence and predictors.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARID · 2022Article
- Descriptive Longitudinal Analysis of Stereotypy and Corresponding Changes in Psychotropic Medication.Developmental neurorehabilitation · 2022Article
- Community-Based Support and Social Services and Their Association with Frailty Factors in Older People with Intellectual Disability and Affective and Anxiety Disorders: A Swedish National Population-Based Register Study.Community mental health journal · 2022Article
- Effect of Peer Victimization on the Long-Term Mental Health Status among Adults Users of Intellectual Disability Services: A Longitudinal Follow-Up Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Antipsychotics withdrawal in adults with intellectual disability and challenging behaviour: study protocol for a multicentre double-blind placebo-controlled randomised trial.BMC psychiatry · 2021Article
- Triggers of Aggressive Behaviors in Intellectually Disabled Adults and Their Association with Autism, Medical Conditions, Psychiatric Disorders, Age and Sex: A Large-Scale Study.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2020Article
- Changes over a decade in psychotropic prescribing for people with intellectual disabilities: prospective cohort study.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Clinical Characteristics and Pharmacological Treatment of Individuals With and Without Intellectual Disability in Pre-trial Assessment-A Population-Based Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Persistence and predictors of self-injurious behaviour in autism: a ten-year prospective cohort study.Molecular autism · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The use of psychotropics by categories and the reason for their prescription was investigated in a large scale study of 4,069 adults with ID, including those with autism spectrum disorder, in New York State. Similar to other studies it was found that 58 % (2,361/4,069) received one or more psychotropics. Six percent received typical, while 39 % received atypical antipsychotics [corrected]. There was greater use of antidepressants (23 %), mood stabilizers (19 %), and antianxiety agents (16 %) relative to other studies. The use of anti-impulsives, stimulants and hypnotics was rare (1-2 %). Half of the psychotropics were prescribed for treatment of major psychiatric disorders, 13 % for control of challenging behaviors, and 38 % for both. Results indicated that the major psychiatric disorders, except anxiety disorder and autism, influenced the use of psychotropics and the number of medication used. These findings imply that although practitioners still rely too heavily on the use of antipsychotics in this population, there is a welcome shift in the prescription patterns relative to other studies. The practitioners appeared to use psychotropics primarily to treat diagnosed psychiatric disorders and not just to control aggressive behavior which suggests that evidence-based practice of psychiatry is playing an increasing role in the ID population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.