New Findings from Baylor University College of Medicine Describe Advances in Managed Care (Psychotropic Medication Prescribing: Youth In Foster Care Compared With Other Medicaid Enrollees): Managed Care

2023 JUN 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news reporting originating from Houston, Texas, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To compare the prevalence of psychotropic medication prescriptions among youth in foster care with those among nonfoster youth on Medicaid. Children ages 1-18 years in a region of a large southern state who were enrolled in their respective Medicaid plan for at least 30 days between 2014 and 2016 and had at least one health care claim were included.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the Baylor University College of Medicine, “Medicaid prescription claims were categorized by class: alpha agonists, anxiolytics, antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and stimulants. Primary mental health (MH) or developmental disorder (DD) diagnostic groups were identified for each class. Analyses included chi-square tests, t-tests, Wilcoxon sign rank tests, and logistic regression. A total of 388,914 nonfoster and 8426 children in foster care were included. Overall, 8% of nonfoster and 35% of foster youth were dispensed at least one prescription for a psychotropic medication. Prevalence was higher for youth in care within each drug class and, with one exception, across all age groups. Among children prescribed a psychotropic medication, the mean number of drug classes prescribed was 1.4 (SD 0.8) and 2.9 (SD 1.4) for nonfoster and foster youth, respectively (p < 0.000). Except for anxiolytics and mood stabilizers, more children in foster care were prescribed psychotropic medications without an MH or DD diagnosis. Finally, children in foster care experienced 6.8 (95% CI: 6.5-7.2) times higher odds of being prescribed a psychotropic medication than their nonfoster peers, after controlling for age group, gender, and number of mental and developmental diagnoses. Across all age groups, children in foster care on Medicaid were prescribed psychotropic medications disproportionately more than their nonfoster peers on Medicaid.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “In addition, children in foster care were significantly more likely to be prescribed psychotropic medication absent an MH or DD diagnosis.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Psychotropic Medication Prescribing: Youth In Foster Care Compared With Other Medicaid Enrollees. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 2023;33(4):149-155. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology can be contacted at: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc, 140 Huguenot Street, 3RD Fl, New Rochelle, NY 10801, USA. (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. - www.liebertpub.com; Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology - http://www.liebertpub.com/overview/journal-of-child-and-adolescent-psychopharmacology/29/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Rachael J. Keefe, Baylor University College of Medicine, Dept. of Pediatrics, Houston, TX, United States. Additional authors for this research include Angela D. L. Cummings, Christopher S. Greeley, Bethanie S. Van Horne and Ashley E. Smith.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1089/cap.2022.0092. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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