Geographic Trends in Pediatric Psychotropic Medication Dispensing Before and After the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: This study examined trends and geographic variability<br />in dispensing of prescription psychotropic medications to<br />U.S. youths before and after the start of theCOVID-19 pandemic.<br />Methods: Using national data on prescription medication<br />dispensing, the authors performed a cross-sectional study<br />examining the monthly percent change in psychotropic<br />medications dispensed (total N595,639,975) to youths (ages<br />5-18 years) in 2020 versus 2019, across medication classes<br />and geographic regions.<br />Results: For many medications, more were dispensed in<br />March 2020 than in March 2019 and fewer in April-May<br />2020 versus April-May 2019. Stimulants had the largest decline:<br />226.4% in May 2020 versus May 2019. Themagnitude of<br />the monthly percent change varied by region.<br />Conclusions: Fewer psychotropic medications were dispensed<br />to U.S. youths after the start of the COVID-19<br />pandemic compared with 2019. Although some medication<br />classes rebounded to prepandemic dispensing<br />levels by September 2020, dispensing varied by class and<br />region