Search

Purpose: Drug use in the pediatric population still often features off-label prescriptions, particularly for psychotropic drugs. We reviewed the registration status, scientific evidence, and recommendations from the guidelines for antipsychotics used for psychiatric disorders in children. Methods: Antipsychotic drugs marketed in Italy, the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) were identified with the ATC Classification System. The licensing status and Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) were taken from the national formularies. We analyzed reviews and guidelines on antipsychotics use in children and adolescents in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases. Results: Out of 67 drugs, 19 were marketed with a pediatric license in at least one country: three in all the selected countries, and only paliperidone with the same indications. Haloperidol was the only antipsychotic authorized for autism in Italy and the UK, and as well as risperidone and aripiprazole in the US. Aripiprazole and paliperidone were licensed in all three countries for schizophrenia. Aripiprazole was licensed for bipolar disorders in all three countries. Haloperidol was licensed for Tourette syndrome in Italy and the UK, and pimozide and aripiprazole in the US. We retrieved 21 pertinent reviews and 13 guidelines for the management of neuropsychiatric disorders in pediatrics. There was a complete overlap between the authorized therapeutic indications and the available scientific evidence for autism in the US, for conduct disorders and bipolar disorders in the UK, and for Tourette syndrome and tics in the UK and Italy. Conclusions: These results highlight the different regulatory processes that deny to many children and adolescents the most appropriate and rational antipsychotic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To characterise neonatal hospital drug use and to compare the availability of drug information between Estonian Summaries of Product Characteristics (SPCs) and other sources. Study design: This was a prospective cohort study in which pharmacotherapy information on neonates admitted to Tartu University Clinics between 1 February and 1 August 2008 and to Tallinn Children's Hospital between 1 February and 1 August 2009 was collected. Drug labelling status was determined according to Estonian SPCs, and neonatal information was compared with the British National Formulary for Children (BNFC) and the Thomson Micromedex database. Results: Of 490 hospitalised neonates, 71% received pharmacotherapy. Within the entire study period, there were 1981 prescriptions for 115 products, with a median of four (interquartile range 2-7) products per child. Antibacterial, cardiovascular and central nervous system drugs were the most commonly prescribed. All treated preterm neonates received at least one unlicensed or age-related off-label prescription. All prescriptions for alimentary, genitourinary, musculoskeletal and sensory system drugs were off-label. There were large differences in the neonatal information provided by the different sources, with the largest differences found for term neonates, for whom the information was available for 67, 38 and 24% of prescriptions according to the BNFC, Micromedex and Estonian SPC, respectively. Conclusions: The high rate of age-related off-label prescribing for neonates calls for urgent action from medical professionals and others to reinforce effective and safe pharmacotherapy for this age group. The existing SPCs should be regularly updated and more closely harmonised to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]