New Managed Care Study Findings Have Been Reported by Researchers at University of Maryland (Stimulant Patterns, Alone or With Other Psychotropic Classes, In Medicaid-insured Youth Continuously Enrolled for 3-8 Years): Managed Care

2024 MAR 14 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Managed Care are presented in a new report. According to news reporting from Baltimore, Maryland, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Little U.S. pharmacoepidemiologic study is based on treatment during continuous enrollment for periods more than a year. This study aims to show pediatric patterns of stimulant use (alone or with other psychotropic classes) from Medicaid administrative claims data for stimulant patterns of 3- to 8-year continuous enrollees.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the University of Maryland, “A retrospective cohort study was derived from Medicaid enrollment, pharmacy, and diagnosis claims data (2007-2014) in a mid-Atlantic state. Youth aged 2-17 years with 3-8 years of continuous enrollment treated with stimulants were compared with a date-matched comparison group treated without stimulants. Major outcomes include prevalence and duration of stimulant use and patterns of stimulant polypharmacy across relatively long enrollments (3-8 years). Among 264,518 unique 2- to 17-year olds with 3-8 years of continuous enrollment, 16.5% had stimulant prescription dispensings, doubling the annual national prevalence of 8.1%. Subgroup analysis showed that the highest prevalence of stimulant use was for 6- to 11-year olds (20.4%), foster care eligible youth (42.3%), and those with 7-8 years of continuous enrollment (20.1%). Externalizing psychiatric disorders were far more common in those treated with stimulants than in those treated without stimulants. The duration of stimulant exposure overall was a median of 487 days, half that of foster care stimulant users. Stimulant polypharmacy with two or more psychotropic classes concomitantly characterized 29.8% of stimulant users. Among those with three or four or more class polypharmacy, 85% and 88%, respectively, had concomitant stimulant and antipsychotic use. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of three or more class polypharmacy significantly increased in 12- to 17-year-old age group (AOR = 1.8), foster care eligibility (AOR = 4.5), and among those with the longest enrollment (AOR = 1.7).Conclusions and Relevance: Stimulant prevalence in Medicaid-insured youth with continuous enrollment of 3-8 years was twice as common as in annual data sets.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Future research should investigate three to five interclass stimulant polypharmacy effectiveness in reliably diagnosed community populations.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Stimulant Patterns, Alone or With Other Psychotropic Classes, In Medicaid-insured Youth Continuously Enrolled for 3-8 Years. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 2024. 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/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Julie M. Zito, University of Maryland, Dept Practice Sci & Hlth Outcomes Res, Baltimore, MD, United States. Additional authors for this research include Daniel Zhu, Heather A. Young, Scott Quinlan, Angelo Elmi and James F. Gardner.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1089/cap.2023.0028. 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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