One-fifth of Medicaid kids receive mental health diagnoses

Twenty percent of children insured by Medicaid received a psychiatric diagnosis before 8 years of age, according to data from more than 35,000 Medicaid-insured children in a mid-Atlantic state.

Previous cross-sectional studies have addressed trends in psychiatric treatment of children. “However, little is known about the longitudinal patterns of pediatric use of psychiatric services,” wrote Dinci Pennap, MPH, of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and her colleagues.

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By the age of 8 years, 20% of the children had received a psychiatric diagnosis; 58% of these diagnoses were behavioral. The most common psychiatric diagnoses were ADHD (44%) and learning disorder (32%).

In addition, 10% (2,196) of children had received psychotropic medications. Of those receiving psychotropic medications, 81% received a single medication, 16% received two medications, and 4% received three medications for 60 days or more, the researchers said. Girls were significantly more likely than boys to be diagnosed with adjustment disorder (22% vs. 15%, respectively) or anxiety disorder (7% vs. 4%, respectively). Boys were significantly more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ADHD (30% vs. 22%).

By age 8 years, 75% of children prescribed medication had received a stimulant, 32% had received an alpha-agonist, and 20% had received an anxiolytic or hypnotic medication, the researchers said.