Pharmacological Agents Used in the Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Mental Retardation

Objective:

Psychotropic drug use in intellectually disabled children is among the most challenging problems in current treatment modalities. The fact that many psychotropic agents fail to exhibit their expected routine action mechanisms, as well as present with unusual and rare side effects in this specifi c population, turns psychopharmacological intervention into a much more diffi cult process. With this study, we have aimed to contribute to existing literature involving pharmacological interventions with psychotropic drug use in children and adolescents, diagnosed with intellectual disability, through a thorough review of evidence-based research in relevant literature, that has been published so far.

Method:

By using following terms of' mental retardation treatment' , ' psychopharmacology' ' behavioral problem' ‘hyperactivity’, as keywords to search for research both in Turkish and English databases, related studies were found.

Results:

Although commonly suggested type of intervention of children and adolescents with intellectual disability is special education and to treat the cause of disability, if determined or specifi ed, psychotropic drug use among this specifi c population is not scarce. These agents are especially used much more commonly among children and adolescents that present with symptoms such as aggression, self harm behaviour and self- mutilation, attention defi cit and hyperactivity problems, or symptoms that might be suggestive of depressionor anxiety. . We are now better aware of the fact that psychotropic drugs tend to be less effi cient and present with more side-effects in this specifi c population, compared to those in children with normal development. Antipsychotics are the most commonly used drugs in children with intellectual disabilities. In this article, we have aimed to review relevant research that involve antipsychotics, psychostimulants and other type of pharmacological agents used in the treatment of attention defi cit and hyperactivity disorder, mood stabilizers and other antiepileptic drugs, antidepressants, anxiolytics, endocrinologic agents, vitamins and other drugs.

Discussion:

Limited number of clinical studies regarding psychotropic drug options in children with intellectual disability exist in literature. Recommendations so far have been mostly based on empirical data and prior clinical experience. Thus, further novel studies conducted with larger sample sizes are warranted.