Review article

https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2021.279

Psychotropic Polypharmacy in Children and Adolescents

Vlatka Boričević Maršanić orcid.org/0000-0002-1437-9942 ; Centre for Children, Adolescents and Parents, Zagreb, Croatia
Ljiljana Bolfan Karapetrić ; Psychiatric Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Zagreb, Croatia
Šime Mijić ; Polyclinic Health Factor, Zagreb, Croatia
Nina Dobrović ; Psychiatric Hospital Sveti Ivan, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

Psychotropic polypharmacy (PP) is defined as the practice of prescribing two or more medications for one or more
diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Data on the rates of PP in pediatric population demonstrate that this practice is on the
rise. The evidence base on the efficacy of psychotropic polypharmacy in pediatric psychiatric practice is limited. Due to
the complexity of the etiology and severity of mental disorders in children, the use of PP is sometimes unavoidable. In
such cases, each combination of drugs used must have its etiological and clinical justification because only then will PP
be useful and justified, and not excessive and burdened with side effects.
This review brings the main findings in this area with a clear conclusion that more high quality and longitudinal studies are
needed to answer the questions of the effectiveness and safety of psychotropic polypharmacy in the treatment of mental
disorders in children and adolescents. Until then, the attitude to combination pharmacotherapy should be conservative,
and combining psychotropic medications should be closely monitored due to the specific concern of the risks of the
increase of adverse events with polypharmacy.

Keywords

Children and Adolescents; Mental Disorders; Psychotropic Polypharmacy; Psychotropic Drugs Combinations

Hrčak ID:

276092

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/276092

Publication date:

6.5.2022.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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