Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR
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J Intellect Disabil Res · Feb 2013
Use and cost of psychotropic drugs among recipients with autism in a state Medicaid fee-for-service programme.
There has been a significant increase in the prevalence of autism in the USA in the past few decades. The purpose of this study was to provide recent estimates of psychotropic drug use and costs among individuals with autism enrolled in Medicaid programme. ⋯ The results of this study indicate a high use of psychotropic drugs among individuals with autism enrolled in a state Medicaid programme. There is an urgent need to study the risk-benefit profile of these drugs in this growing population. Psychotropic drug use was found to vary by demographic and co-morbid factors. Among the different classes of psychotropic drugs, antipsychotics were the most commonly used and had the highest cost per claim.