Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Prescribing Patterns of Methylphenidate and Atomoxetine for Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Ilse Truter

Drug Utilisation Research Unit (DURU), Department of Pharmacy, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), Port Elizabeth, South Africa;

For correspondence:- Email: ilse.truter@nmmu.ac.za Tel:+27415042131

Received: 1 April 2014 Accepted: 8 June 2014 Published: 25 July 2014

Citation: Truter I. Prescribing Patterns of Methylphenidate and Atomoxetine for Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Trop J Pharm Res 2014; 13(7):1157-1162 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v13i7.21

© 2014 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prescribing pattern of methylphenidate and atomoxetine to patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in South Africa.

Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional pharmacoepidemiological study was conducted based on the data from a medical aid administrator in South Africa for 2011. All records for ADHD patients who received one or more prescriptions for methylphenidate and/or atomoxetine (ATC Code N06BA) were extracted for analysis.

Results: A total of 455 patients (mean age: 16.5 ± 11.56 yr) received 1653 prescriptions for methylphenidate and/or atomoxetine at a total cost of South African Rand 554,915.84 (US dollar 1.0 = Rand 6.76). A majority of these patients (70.34 %) were males and 21.10 % were older than 18 yr (25.76 % of females and 19.81 % of males). About a third of the prescriptions (30.44 %) were dispensed to children younger than 12 years while 25.88 % were dispensed to adolescents (12 to 18 years). Most prescriptions (92.01 %) were for methylphenidate while atomoxetine accounted for 7.99 % of the prescription. A majority of the prescriptions for methylphenidate (47.86 %) were for children younger than 12 yr, and most prescriptions for atomoxetine (52.27 %) were for adolescents.

Conclusion: Methylphenidate is the mainstay in the treatment of ADHD in South Africa, with atomoxetine prescribed more often to older patients. Drug use is rational and dosages are within the recommended dosage ranges. As expected, older patients are receiving treatment for ADHD.

Keywords: Methylphenidate, Atomoxetine, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder, Pharmacoepidemiology