title: Evaluation of quetiapine abuse and misuse reported to poison centers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are case reports of abuse of quetiapine, but no studies address quetiapine abuse or misuse. Most literature on the population that abuses quetiapine describes an older age group with previous substance abuse history, many of whom are in jail. The objective of this study was to evaluate national poison center data on misuse/abuse of quetiapine.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study of American Association of Poison Control Centers National Poison Data System data from 2005 to 2011 on single substance quetiapine exposures coded as intentional misuse or abuse and followed to known outcome was performed. Data were evaluated for age, toxicity, management sites, treatments, and medical outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 3116 cases meeting inclusion criteria; reason was misuse in 1948 cases and abuse in 1168 cases. The median age was 23 years. Misuse was reported most often in adults, whereas abuse occurred most frequently in adolescents. The male-to-female ratio was 1.7 for abuse and 1.0 for misuse. There were no deaths. Moderate or major toxicity occurred in 23.7% and 27.1% of misuse and abuse cases, respectively. Seventy-six percent were treated in the emergency department and/or received medical admission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Misuse was more common than abuse, except in adolescents for whom abuse was more frequent. Although outcomes were generally good, significant toxicity occurred in 25% of cases and more than 75% of the patients were treated in the emergency department and/or received medical admission. The consequences of nonmedical use of quetiapine are serious in some patients.
authors.affiliation: From the Maryland Poison Center, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Klein-Schwartz
authors.forename: Elana K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Bruce D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003987:Dibenzothiazepines / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011039:Poison Control Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D063487:Prescription Drug Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000069348:Quetiapine Fumarate; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003987:Dibenzothiazepines; D000069348:Quetiapine Fumarate