Treated prevalence, incidence, and pharmacotherapy of child and adolescent mood disorders in an HMO.
This study examined the "treated" prevalence, incidence, and pharmacotherapy of child and adolescent mood disorders in a managed care setting. General prevalence patterns across age and sex were similar to those reported in community epidemiology studies, although, not unexpectedly, the overall rates were somewhat lower. Primary care providers identified a substantial proportion of the youth with a mood disorder. Antidepressant medication was used more often by youth identified with a mood disorder in medical care settings than by those youth identified in specialty mental health care settings. These results are valuable in determining if youth with mood disorders receiving medication prescriptions across settings are treated according to current best practice guidelines (such as the adult depression guidelines [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1993]), that is, primarily with SSRI medications.
Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland, Oregon 97227-1110, USA. lynn.debar@kp.org
L L
LL
DeBar
G N
GN
Clarke
E
E
O'Connor
G A
GA
Nichols
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000592:standards; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000592:standards; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012107:Research Design; D014861:Washington / Q000453:epidemiology
D000928:Antidepressive Agents