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An increased number of reports have indicated that use of psychotropic drugs by very young children is rising. Using records from 1991 to 1995 in two Medicaid programs in Midwest and mid-Atlantic states and one HMO outpatient facility in the Northwest, researchers compared the prevalence of psychotropic drug use among more than 231,000 children aged 2 to 4 years, with use among children ages 5 to 9, 10 to 14, and 15 to 19 years (over 965,000 individuals were under age 20). The study covered 3 classes of medication (stimulants, antidepressants, and neuroleptics) and, due to their widespread increased use during the study, 2 individual medications (methylphenidate and clonidine).
Although the prevalence of psychotropic use varied among the 3 s…