The use of psychotropic medications in autistic individuals (21 years and younger) in Western Australia: A preliminary investigation.

Medication use was reported by parents or caregivers from a single questionnaire, so the study could not confirm prescriptions, doses, dates or actual benefit. The data did not show whether medications were used at the same time, one after another, or switched because of side effects or lack of effect. The sample came from a Western Australian autism registry and was weighted towards higher family income, so it may not represent autistic children who did not seek care or who have lower incomes. The analysed group was small and had relatively fewer people with intellectual disability than larger autism samples, limiting generalisability. The study was done when DSM-IV did not allow dual ADHD and autism diagnosis, so some reports of challenging behaviours may have been related to ADHD. Because there was no baseline comparison or blinded outcome assessment, reported symptom improvement cannot be treated as evidence of medication effectiveness.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest and received no financial support for the research, authorship or publication.

Do not read the 82 of 137 medications reported to help as proof that psychotropic medications work in autistic children. The study was retrospective, used a single parent-reported time point, and could not tell whether medications were used together, switched, or improved symptoms compared with baseline.