ADHD drug-related abuse calls rise 140%

By Sheilah Downey (sheilahd@foodconsumer.org)

Researchers say a sharp increase in teenage prescription drug abuse is a "rising problem" and that the severity of abuse cases increases over time.

Calls to poison control centers about teen victims of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) jumped 76 percent between 1998 and 2005, according to the study published in Pediatrics today.

Substance-related abuse calls for every million adolescent prescriptions rose 140 percent, stated the study by Dr. Jennifer Setlik of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, and colleagues.

"The sharp increase, out of proportion to other poison center calls,  suggests a rising problem with teen ADHD stimulant medication abuse," said researchers. "Case severity increased over time."

Perhaps signaling the problem, researchers stated that prescriptions for amphetamine products over the course of the study rose 133 percent.

"Sales data of ADHD medications suggest that the use and call-volume increase reflects availability, but the increase disproportionately involves amphetamines," researchers wrote.

The abuse of stimulates are either rising, stated the study, or increased calls are indicating an escalating severity of the problem.

Using data from the American Association of Poison Control Center, the study looked at all cases involving people aged 13 to 19 years from 1998 to 2005. All cases involved teens with prescriptions for ADHD who intentionally abused or misused their medication.

The 76 percent rise in calls reflected a faster incidence than calls for victims of general substance abuse and teen substance abuse, said researchers. They noted that the annual rate of total and teen substance abuse was unchanged.

Over the eight-year study time, estimated prescriptions for teens and pre-teens increased by 133 percent for amphetamines, 52 percent for methylphenidate products and 80 percent for both products.