1 in 4 young people using psychotropic drugs are taking dangerous combinations
A Penn Medicine study shows that the use of medicines to address mental health or behavioral conditions climbed from 2001 until 2020, but the increase has led to safety concerns.
2 min. read
Use of medications for mental health and behavioral conditions among children and young adults has increased steadily for two decades, and about one in four young people taking these medicines are prescribed a combination that carries a risk of serious drug interactions, according to researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine. The findings, which analyzed medication use in children age 6 through young adults age 24, are published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
The combinations of these medications—most commonly involving antidepressants and antipsychotics—can lead to dangerous conditions that include abnormal heart rhythms, excessive sedation, or dangerously elevated serotonin levels.
“While these medicines can be helpful, our research highlights the need for careful monitoring when multiple medications are used, more research on long-term safety, and better access to non-drug treatments like therapy,” says senior author Sean Hennessy,a professor of epidemiology, systems pharmacology, and translational therapeutics. “Families should have open dialogue with their clinicians to help weigh the benefits and risks of these prescriptions and ensure regular follow-up to keep treatment safe and effective.”
During the study period, the rate of people who were taking at least one psychotropic medication in combination with another medication almost doubled. Researchers discovered that 26% of the population surveyed were taking multiple medications associated with major drug to drug interactions, meaning these combinations are classified as having the potential to cause serious harm and typically require close monitoring, dose adjustment, or avoidance in the first place.
While there are systems in place designed to catch these cases, including regular medication checks at clinician visits and electronic prescribing systems that flag potential issues, the findings show that the “complexity of real-world care like when patients switch providers or get care from different clinics” remains difficult to manage and causes dangerous combinations to be missed, says lead author Lin-Chieh Meng,a doctoral student in epidemiology.
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