Abstract
Within the last two decades, atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) have increasingly been used in children and adolescents, for the treatment of both psychotic and non- psychotic psychiatric disorders, when compared to typical antipsychotics (TAAs) , due to their lower overall risk of adverse neurological effects, as extra pyramidal symptoms. Although initially AAPs were believed to be more effi cient in treatment and well-tolerated than TAAs, results of several studies suggest AAPs were no more effective in comparison to TAAs. In clinical practice, frequent switching of antipsychotic medications is common, due to lack of effi cacy, adverse side effects, and partial or no- response. Widespread use of AAPs for youth treated in both inpatient and outpatient settings, regardless of their diagnoses, has been the focus of increasing attention due to the effectiveness and side effects of these drugs. However, limited number of studies conducted in children and adolescent populations exist and most of these researches with objectives of assessing metabolic and endocrine side effects of AAPs were carried out with small sample sizes and had short clinical follow-up periods. For all these reasons, we have aimed to focus on well- identifi ed side effects of AAPs, that were prescribed for the treatment of various psychiatric diagnoses.
Keywords: atypical antipsychotics, adverse effects, cardiometabolic side effects, extrapyramidal side effects
