Objectives: Our objective was to describe use of psychotropic and non-psychotropic medications by students attending the Kennedy Krieger School, and to investigate associations between such use and student’s disability status, graduation pathway (diploma vs. certificate), sex, race, age, and grade level.
Methods: This sample included 468 students, aged 5 to 22 years, who attend The Kennedy Krieger School Programs in Maryland, all with significant developmental concerns. Students were classified into one of two groups: those with autism as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and those with other disability codes. Medications were coded by type (psychotropic vs. other). Multivariate regression models were used to evaluate predictors of psychotropic and non-psychotropic drug use. Data was maintained in a commercially available student information database, PowerSchool.
Results: In all, 63% of students were taking at least one psychotropic medication and 43% were taking at least one non-psychotropic medication. Students with ASD were taking an average of 1.3 psychotropic and 0.8 non-psychotropic medications, while non-ASD students were taking an average of 1.8 psychotropic and 1.2 non-psychotropic medications. Not having ASD, higher grade level, Caucasian race, and being in LEAP (a specialized program for lower functioning children with ASD) were strongly correlated with greater psychotropic medication use, while sex and graduation pathway were not. Not having ASD was also strongly correlated with non-psychotropic medication use, as was being Caucasian or being in the LEAP program, while grade level, sex, and graduation pathway were not. All positive correlations were above p<0.05.
Conclusions: Data show that an overwhelming number of students attending a nonpublic school are prescribed psychotropic medications. It is interesting to note that, while psychotropic medication use increases with age, non-psychotropic medication use does not. Patterns of medication use were identified that may influence the practice of school administrators. Results demonstrate that further investigation of medication use among older, lower functioning students with ASD is warranted. Findings suggest that the impact of pharmacological interventions on student achievement for students with ASD merits further study.
See more of: Treatments
See more of: Prevalence, Risk factors & Intervention