Impact of Atypical Antipsychotic Use Among Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

To compare treatment patterns, resource utilization, and costs to US third-party payers of stimulant-treated adolescent attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients who switched to or augmented with atypical antipsychotics (AAPs; not FDA-indicated for ADHD) with those who switched to or augmented with nonantipsychotic medications. Retrospective cohort study conducted using a US commercial medical/pharmacy claims database. Adolescent patients with an ADHD diagnosis and ≥1 stimulant medication claim between January 2005 and December 2009 were identified. Patients were classified into the AAP or non-antipsychotic cohorts based on subsequent claims for AAPs or nonantipsychotic medications, respectively. Patients with psychiatric diagnoses for which AAPs are often prescribed were excluded. Patients were matched 1:1 from the AAP to the non-antipsychotic cohort using propensity score matching. Treatment patterns, resource utilization, and costs in the 12 months after AAP or non-antipsychotic initiation were compared using Cox models, Poisson regression, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, respectively. After propensity score matching, a total of 849 adolescents were included in each of the matched cohorts. Patients in the AAP cohort had a significantly higher rate of medication augmentation (27.7% vs 15.5%; hazard ratio = 2.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.90-3.46; P