The following information is extracted from the most accurate data available on the number of children and adolescents prescribed psychiatric drugs in the United States, including 0-5 year olds. The information is from IQVia (formerly IMS Health), the largest vendor of U.S. physician prescribing data. The following data was taken from the IQVia Total Patient Tracker Database for Year 2020, extracted January 2021.

To see drug side effects of these classes of psychiatric drugs being prescribed to children, click hyperlinks below in blue (i.e., ADHD Drugs, Antidepressants, Antipsychotics, etc). 

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Note:  The total number of individual children on psychiatric drugs was cited by IQVia as 6.155,852. The totals for each class of drug (i.e. ADHD or Antidepressant drugs) may include children on more than one class of drug, or, children who were also counted in the next year’s age bracket during a one-year period.  The total number of children on all psychiatric drugs including age breakdown have been deduplicated so these are the total number of children prescribed drugs for the year. 

Drug Class:                    Age Group:           Number of Children & Adolescents:

All Psychiatric Drugs    0-17 Years              6,155,852

                                            0-5 Years                418,425

          Age Breakdown:
                                            0-1 Years                85,003
                                            2-3 Years                138,822
                                            4-5 Years                215,120
                                            6-12 Years              2,652,554
                                            13-17 Years            3,188,966

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ADHD Drugs                   0-17 Years              3,155,441

                                          0-5 Years                58,091

          Age Breakdown:
                                           0-1 Years                310
                                           2-3 Years                1,300
                                           4-5 Years                57,010
                                           6-12 Years              1,750,481
                                           13-17 Years            1,409,438

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Antidepressants             0-17 Years              2,154,118

                                            0-5 Years                35,216

          Age Breakdown:
                                           0-1 Years                7,811
                                           2-3 Years                12,137
                                           4-5 Years                18,911
                                           6-12 Years              543,120
                                           13-17 Years            1,605,375

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Antipsychotics                0-17 Years              829,372

                                            0-5 Years                30,632

          Age Breakdown:
                                           0-1 Years                1,318
                                           2-3 Years                7,873
                                           4-5 Years                22,180
                                           6-12 Years              304,754
                                           13-17 Years            502,372

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Anti-anxiety Drugs        0-17 Years              1,153,351

                                           0-5 Years                233,125

          Age Breakdown:
                                          0-1 Years                60,068
                                          2-3 Years                89,453
                                          4-5 Years                90,716
                                          6-12 Years              357,976
                                          13-17 Years            571,210

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Mood Stabilizers            0-17 Years              794,715

                                            0-5 Years                100,233

          Age Breakdown:
                                           0-1 Years                21,593
                                           2-3 Years                36,986
                                           4-5 Years                50,206
                                           6-12 Years              289,262
                                           13-17 Years            419,221

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SOURCE: IQVia Total Patient Tracker (TPT) Database, Year 2020, Extracted January 2021.

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