Table 1.
Rates and correlates of multi-class psychotropic visitsa and single-class psychotropic visitsb in youth office-based medical visits in which a psychotropic drug is mentioned, United States 1996–2007
| Multi-Class Psychotropic Visits 1996–2007 (N=863) N (%) | Single-Class Psychotropic Visits 1996–2007 (N=2,603) N (%) | Significance test F (1, 2373) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | |||
| 6–12 | 394 (45.39) | 1,375 (55.73) | 14.75, p<0.001 |
| 13–17 | 469 (54.61) | 1,228 (44.27) | |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 317 (38.76) | 994 (38.14) | 0.06, p=0.81 |
| Male | 546 (61.24) | 1,609 (61.86) | |
| Race/ethnicity | |||
| White | 699 (81.7) | 2,010 (77.32) | 3.36, p=0.07 |
| Minorities | 164 (18.3) | 593 (22.68) | |
| Any psychiatric disorder | 783 (88.14) | 1,895 (66.51) | 65.91, p<0.001 |
| Selected psychiatric disorders | |||
| Disruptive behavior disorders | 498 (53.7) | 1,265 (48.12) | 3.09, p=0.08 |
| Mood disorders | 398 (44.78) | 550 (15.93) | 160.16, p<0.001 |
| Anxiety disorders | 111 (11.41) | 171 (4.22) | 44.55, p<0.001 |
| Adjustment disorders | 64 (6.96) | 92 (2.24) | 37.13, p<0.001 |
| PDD, MR, and psychotic disorders | 85 (9.76) | 104 (2.56) | 54.78, p<0.001 |
| Number of psychiatric diagnoses | |||
| 1 | 311 (40.73) | 1,340 (51.07) | 147.99, p<0.001 |
| ≥2 | 472 (47.4) | 555 (15.44) | |
| Source of payment | |||
| Private insurance | 269 (46.37) | 660 (55.35) | 8.39, p<.005 |
| Public insurance | 371 (31.95) | 1,356 (24.93) | 6.86, p<0.01 |
| Self-pay or other | 189 (18.6) | 497 (16.35) | 0.59, p=0.44 |
| Visit sequence | |||
| Returning patient | 796 (92.37) | 2,344 (91.14) | 0.85, p=0.36 |
| New patient | 65 (7.63) | 252 (8.86) | |
| Physician specialty | |||
| Psychiatry | 672 (69.59) | 1,103 (27.88) | 248.53, p<0.001 |
| Other | 191 (30.41) | 1,500 (72.12) | |
Note: Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS). Percentages (%) are based on weighted data. Test statistics reaching statistical significance (p<.05) are in bold. MR = mental retardation; PDD = pervasive developmental disorder.
Multi-class psychotropic visits refer to visits in which patient was prescribed two or more psychotropic agents from across medication classes (see Method section for description of medications in each class).
Single-class psychotropic visits refer to visits in which patient was prescribed psychotropic agent(s) from only one medication class.