Stimulant Prescriptions Spiked During Pandemic, CDC Report Finds

The percentage of adults receiving prescriptions for stimulants increased from 2016 to 2021 and jumped from 2020 to 2021, particularly among women, according to anarticle in the CDC ’sMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.“The prevalence of diagnosed ADHD [attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder] and associated treatment in adults [have] increased in recent decades,” wrote Melissa Danielson, M.S.P.H., of the CDC’s Division of Human Development and Disability and colleagues. “The current study adds to evidenc e that the increasing trend in the percentage of adults receiving prescriptions for stimulants … continued during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Danielson and colleagues analyzed 2016-2021 claims data from the Merative MarketScan Commercial Database, a national sample of de-identified health care claims from enrollees in employer-sponsored insurance plans. The authors included all stimulant prescriptions in the analysis, regardless of whether an enrollee ’s records had any ADHD diagnosis codes present. They calculated percentages and annual changes in stimulant prescriptions for enrollees aged 5 to 64 years. The rate of enrollees with stimulant prescriptions increased from 3.6% in 2016 to 4.1% in 2021. Across all years, the rate of male enrollees with stimulant prescriptions was highest among those aged 5 to 19 years, while the rate of stimulant prescriptions among females was highest among those aged 15 to 24 years. The largest single-year increases o...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: ADHD attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder CDC medication trends Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report prescriptions stimulants Source Type: research