Premium
The Variation of Psychopharmacological Prescription Rates for People With Autism Spectrum Disorder ( ASD ) in 30 Countries
Author(s) -
Wong Angel Y.S.,
Hsia Yingfen,
Chan Esther W.,
Murphy Declan G.M.,
Simonoff Emily,
Buitelaar Jan K.,
Wong Ian C.K.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
autism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.656
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1939-3806
pISSN - 1939-3792
DOI - 10.1002/aur.1391
Subject(s) - medical prescription , per capita , medicine , psychiatry , demography , comorbidity , autism spectrum disorder , gross domestic product , autism , confidence interval , pediatrics , environmental health , population , pharmacology , economics , sociology , economic growth
There is significant variation in prescriptions among countries in clinical practice for the treatment of comorbidities associated with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ). It has been suggested that many people with mental health disorders in low‐/middle‐income countries do not receive adequate treatment. Hence, this study investigated psychopharmacological treatment patterns for ASD comorbidities in 30 countries and the association between country's income and prescription rates. The IMS Prescribing Insights database was used to investigate prescription patterns for ASD comorbidity treatment from 2007 to 2012. Data were obtained from 30 countries in continents of E urope, A sia, O ceania, C entral A merica, S outh A merica, and A frica. The gross domestic product ( GDP ) per capita was used as a proxy for each country's income. S pearman correlation was used to examine the association between prescription rate and GDP per capita. The highest prescription rates were found in W estern E urope (3.89–36.36/10,000) while the lowest prescription rates were found in A sian countries, such as T urkey, I ndonesia, S audi A rabia, and P akistan (0.04–0.82/10,000). The most commonly prescribed drug for ASD comorbidity treatment in most of the countries was risperidone, but antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs were also frequently prescribed. There was a significant positive correlation between GDP per capita and prescription rate ( S pearman ρ = 0.60; P = 0.0011; 95% confidence interval 0.27–0.81), that is, the higher the GDP per capita, the higher the prescription rate. There are marked international differences in prescription rates, and this is partially accounted by economic factors. Future research should combine more data for ASD comorbidity treatment to explore the disparity of psychopharmacological treatment between countries. Autism Res 2014, 7: 543–554. © 2014 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.