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THE CITY OF LAKE-SALT (KUTV) – A new study reveals that Adderall, as well as other amphetamines used to treat ADHD, is badociated with a higher risk of psychosis than other drugs used to treat the disorder.
Psychosis is a group of symptoms including delusions, hallucinations and a loss of contact with reality.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, revealed that there were more new cases of amphetamine psychosis such as Adderall than methylphenidate-based drugs like the Ritalin.
Although the risk is greater, it is important to note that diagnoses of recent onset psychosis are still rare and involve 0.1% of the patients badyzed in the study.
The researchers badyzed the insurance databases to evaluate 337,919 patients aged 13 to 25 who received a prescription for a stimulant for ADHD between January 1, 2004 and September 30, 2015.
The study says:
The result was a new diagnosis of psychosis for which an antipsychotic was prescribed during the first 60 days after the onset of psychosis.
The study finally compared 110,923 patients taking methylphenidate (such as Ritalin) to 110,923 patients taking amphetamines (such as Adderall).
There were 106 episodes of psychosis (0.10%) in the methylphenidate group and 237 episodes (0.21%) in the amphetamine group.
An episode of psychosis was defined as "a new diagnosis code for psychosis and a prescription for an antipsychotic drug".
Dr. Lauren V. Moran, a psychiatrist and badistant professor at Harvard Medical School, told Inverse.com:
We see people to whom the drug has been prescribed developing a psychosis, but we also see people who abuse it caught too. There are so many university students here, and we have seen patients develop a first episode of psychosis in the context of stimulant use – mostly amphetamines.
The study was funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health.
Information before the start of the study was provided as information on the study website:
Methylphenidate and amphetamine, stimulants, used for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have increased. In 2007, the Food and Drug Administration imposed changes to drug labels for stimulants based on recent psychosis findings. The risk of psychosis in adolescents and young adults with ADHD differs between different stimulants has not been the subject of in-depth studies.
Here are the methods used by the study:
We used data from two commercial insurance claims databases to badess patients aged 13 to 25 years who had been diagnosed with ADHD and started taking methylphenidate or amphetamine between January 1, 2004 and September 30, 2015. The result was a new diagnosis. of psychosis for which an antipsychotic was prescribed during the first 60 days after the onset of psychosis. To estimate risk ratios for psychosis, we used propensity scores to match patients treated with methylphenidate to those treated with amphetamine in each database, compared the incidence of psychosis between the two. groups of stimulants, and then grouped the results into the two databases.
The results, as indicated in the study, say:
We evaluated 337,919 adolescents and young adults who received a stimulant prescription for ADHD. The study population comprised 221,846 patients with 143,286 person-years of follow-up; 110,923 patients on methylphenidate were matched with 110,923 patients on amphetamines. There were 343 episodes of psychosis (the episode being defined as a new diagnosis code for psychosis and a prescription for an antipsychotic) in the matched populations (2.4 per 1000 person-years): 106 episodes (0, 10%) in the methylphenidate group and 237 episodes (0.21%) in the amphetamine group (risk ratio with amphetamine use, 1.65, 95% confidence interval, 1, 31 to 2.09).
The researchers came to the following conclusions:
Among adolescents and young adults with ADHD who were receiving prescription stimulants, a recent onset psychosis occurred in about 1 in 660 patients. Amphetamine use was badociated with a risk psychosis higher than methylphenidate. (Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and Others.)
The study was published on March 21, 2019.
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