ABSTRACT

Objective:

The aim of this study was to assess all the preschoolers being followed up in a child and adolescent psychiatry clinic, to determine the psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses that require psychotropic medication use and to identify the features regarding psyhoctropic drug use (dosage, duration of medication use, side effects etc).

Method:

Children of the preschool period that were assessed in the outpatient unit between February 2008 and February 2010 were included in the study. For the cases who had used psychotropic drugs during the follow up period, data regarding the follow up duration, DSM-IV diagnoses, target symptoms and signs that required medication use, names of the psychotropic drugs and the dosages, duration of drug use, effects and side effects reported, change in medication if present during the process and family compatibility were gathered.

Results:

The number of the preschoolers evaluated in the study was 228. Thirty children (13.2%) were using psychotropic drugs during the assessment period. Most commonly used drugs were atypical antipsyhotics with the percentage of 90% (n=27). While 80% of the cases were reported to have benefited from drug use, in 73.3% of the cases, the treatment compliance was found to be good.

Discussion:

It is important to carry out a comprehensive assessment process while evaluating psychiatric disorders in preschoolers, to be very careful while medicating children who have average or severe symptoms and disruption in functioning.