Psychotropic Medication Usage in Pediatric CKD: Reporting from the CKD in Children Cohort.

Key Points: Psychotropic medication use is prevalent in the pediatric CKD population. Central nervous system stimulant usage was more common in male patients, and antidepressant usage was more frequently reported at follow-up visits during teenage years.

Background: Mental health disorders within the pediatric CKD population are prevalent. The frequency is unknown with which psychotropic medications that commonly treat these conditions are used in this population.

Methods: Data from the CKD in Children (CKiD) cohort study were used to describe the use of psychotropic medications and patient-related characteristics of use. Medications were classified into three groups: antidepressants, central nervous system (CNS) stimulants, and antipsychotic/mood stabilizing medications. Participant age, sex, CKD severity, and duration of medication use were ascertained. Medication use was evaluated in parallel with CKD disease type, presence of urological comorbidity, and hypertension. Chi-square tests compared subgroup medication use.

Results: Among 1074 CKiD participants (median baseline age 9.8 years), 6% (=60) used psychotropic medications at study entry with 11% reporting incident use of any medication category (=120). CNS stimulants were most common at baseline. Antidepressants were more frequent among incident users at 7%. Use of two or more medications was rare (3%). Median eGFR at medication initiation was 45 ml/min per 1.73 m. CNS stimulants were reported at a higher rate in male compared with female participants ( < 0.05).

Conclusions: Eleven percent of CKiD patients report incident use of any psychotropic medication, with 7% reporting incident use of antidepressants. Future work is warranted to better ascertain the frequency, safety, and efficacy of psychotropic medication usage in relationship to formal mental health disorder diagnoses in the pediatric CKD population.