Medco Health Solutions 2004 Drug
Trend Report has revealed eye-opening
data about medication spending to
treat behavioral disorders in pediatric
patients. Specifically, spending on
drugs primarily used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder skyrocketed
by 369% for children under age 5.
The number of children taking 1 or
more prescription medications to treat
behavior-related conditions hit almost
9% for those children taking at least 1
medication overall. Other significant
findings of the analysis are as follows:
Prescription drug spending for
behavioral conditions rose by
77% between 2000 and 2003 as a
result of increased costs and the
increased use of these medications
In 2003, spending on behavioral
medications to treat children
overtook both the antibiotic and
asthma categories, which are traditionally
high-use categories in
pediatric medicine
The number of children taking
behavioral medications jumped
by >20% between 2000 and 2003,
outpaced only by the increase in
children on drugs to treat gastrointestinal
conditions, which
increased by 28%