Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23681164›Full record

ArticlePsychopharmacology2014

Pharmacological treatments prescribed to people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in primary health care.

Macey L Murray, Yingfen Hsia, Karen Glaser, Emily Simonoff, Declan G M Murphy, Philip J Asherson, Hanna Eklund, Ian C K Wong

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Psychopharmacology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
55citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
5.4field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

55 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 133 citations in OpenAlex.

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  17. Elevated and accelerated: Locus coeruleus activity and visual search abilities in autistic children.Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Macey L MurrayCentre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research, Department of Practice and Policy, UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, UK, macey.murray@ucl.ac.uk.
Yingfen Hsia
Karen Glaser
Emily Simonoff
Declan G M Murphy
Philip J Asherson
Hanna Eklund
Ian C K Wong
King's College London · GBUniversity College London · GB

Funding

Department of Health RP-PG-0606-1045
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleAutism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affect 1 % of children, having significant impact on health and social outcomes. Psychotropic medication use by individuals with ASD in the USA increased over time, and polypharmacy occurred in >50 % of those prescribed. In the UK, no psychotropic drugs are approved in ASDs, and little is known about patterns of pharmacological treatment in the ASD population and associated co-morbidities.

methodsWe used The Health Improvement Network, a nationally representative primary care database, to assess the prevalence of ASD diagnoses, psychotropic drug prescribing and neuropsychiatric co-morbidities of 0-24 year olds between 1992 and 2008.

resultsASD prevalence increased 65-fold from 0.01 % (1992) to 0.50 % (2008). Psychotropic drugs were prescribed to 29 % (1,619/5,651) of the ASD cohort; the most prescribed drugs were sleep medication (9.7 % of prescribed patients), psychostimulants (7.9 %) and antipsychotics (7.3 %). More patients were given psychostimulants and sleep medications over time from 1.5-6.3 % and 2.2-5.9 % respectively. Thirty-seven per cent of the cohort had ≥ 1 record of a neuropsychiatric co-morbidity, the most common being developmental difficulties and learning disabilities (12.6 %), behavioural, conduct and personality disorders (11.1 %) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (7.5 %).

conclusionsBritish physicians are more conservative in prescribing practice than American colleagues. However, use of psychostimulants and antipsychotics is much higher in those with ASD than in the general population. Polypharmacy was seen in 34 % of prescribed patients in 2008. Additional studies examining use, efficacy, and long-term safety of antipsychotics and psychostimulants in autistic individuals are warranted.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAntipsychotic AgentsChildChild Development Disorders, PervasiveChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesComorbidityDatabases, FactualFemaleHumansIncidenceInfantMaleMental DisordersPractice Patterns, Physicians'Antipsychotic AgentsPsychotropic Drugs

Identifiers

PMID23681164
PMCPMC3932167
OpenAlexW1974447574

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.