Medication use by adolescents and adults with fragile X syndrome.
D J Laxman, J S Greenberg, L S DaWalt and 3 others
PMID 29034517WHAT IT FOUND
Most adolescents and adults with fragile X syndrome took psychotropic medication, and use stayed stable over three years.
Higher autism symptoms, behaviour problems, mental health diagnoses and family income were associated with greater psychotropic medication use.
Key findings
01By the final study point, nearly 70% of participants were prescribed psychotropic medications and one-quarter were prescribed non-psychotropic medications.
02Medication use was stable over three years: the odds of continuing any medication were 23.67, while the odds of stopping were 0.04.
03Higher autism symptom scores and more severe behaviour problems predicted psychotropic medication use three years later.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study analysed 105 participants from an original longitudinal sample of 147, and excluded cases differed by household income, living situation and maternal education, so the analysed sample may not represent all families in the study. Medication information came from mothers' report, not medical records, and the researchers did not know prescribers' reasons when a medication had more than one possible use. Many participants were already taking medication when the study began, so the analysis may miss factors that led to first prescription. The sample was mostly Caucasian, non-Latino, middle-class and volunteer-based in North America, so results may not generalise internationally or to more diverse families. The study cannot show whether medications helped symptoms or improved behaviour; it only described medication patterns and associations.
Declared interests
No conflicts-of-interest statement appears in the supplied article text. The article is labelled as supported by NIH extramural research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high medication use as evidence that psychotropic medications help adolescents and adults with fragile X syndrome. This study described medication patterns and associations; it did not test medication effectiveness.