Psychiatric drug use soars in U.K. and U.S.

CHICAGO — U.S. children take anti-psychotic medicines at about six times the rate of children in the United Kingdom, according to a comparison based on a new U.K. study. Does it mean U.S. kids are being over-treated? Or that U.K. children are being under-treated?

Experts say that's almost beside the point, because use is rising on both sides of the Atlantic. Among the most commonly used drugs were those to treat autism and hyperactivity.

In the U.K. study, 595 prescriptions for anti-psychotics were written for children at a rate of less than four per 10,000 children in 1992. By 2005, 2,917 prescriptions were written for children at a rate of seven per 10,000 -- a near-doubling, said lead author Fariz Rani, a researcher at the University of London. The study is being released today in journal Pediatrics.

By contrast, an earlier U.S. study found that nearly 45 American children out of 10,000 used the drugs in 2001 versus more than 23 per 10,000 in 1996.

There are big differences that could help explain the vastly higher U.S. rate.

A recent report in The Lancet suggested that the U.K.'s universal health-care system limits prescribing practices there. The report also said direct-to-consumer ads, more common in the U.S., raise consumer awareness and demand for medication.

A story published May 5, 2008 was corrected on May 6, 2008. In a previous version The Associated Press reported erroneously that 595 children in a United Kingdom study were prescribed the drugs in 1992, versus 2,917 children in 2005. The figures referred to the number of anti-psychotic prescriptions written for children.