Antipsychotic drugs are widely used to treat a variety of psychiatric disorders. These drugs are commonly divided into two categories: first generation antipsychotics (FGA) or typical antipsychotics and second generation antipsychotics (SGA) or atypical antipsychotics. FGA includes drugs such as haloperidol, loxapine, thiothixene, and thioridazine. SGA includes drugs such as aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone and ziprasidone. These drugs are used to alleviate psychotic symptoms but they are associated with a number of adverse effects such as extrapyramidal side effects (EPS), weight gain, and sedation. Generally, compared with FGAs, the SGAs are associated with lower risk of motor side effects but higher risk of weight gain, elevated lipid and prolactin levels and development of type 2 diabetes. The use of antipsychotics for treating the pediatric population with mental health disorders has increased significantly during the past 20 years. The majority of antipsychotic drugs approved in the USA for pediatric patients were restricted mainly for schizophrenia and bipolar disease.1 However the drugs are being used for off-label indications. The increased use of antipsychotic medications in the pediatric population has raised concerns and controversies. The purpose of this report is to provide evidence on the clinical benefits and harms of treatments with antipsychotic medications in the pediatric population and to summarize evidence-based guidelines on the use of antipsychotics in these patients. This report is an update of a previous report on this topic, produced by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH).
- Pages
- 38
- Published in
- Canada
