Metabolic screening rates for children and adolescents starting treatment with second-generation antipsychotics remain nearly as low as they were before the American Diabetes Association (ADA) first issued its recommendations for such screening in 2004, new research shows.
Studies, both randomized and observational, show that second-generation antipsychotics cause a significant increase in children’s body mass index and may pose serious metabolic risks because of these patients’ hormonal and developmental status.
The guidelines issued by the ADA, in conjunction with the American Psychiatric Association, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, recommend that prescribers of second-generation antipsychotics test patients’ blood glucose at baseline, 12 weeks after the start of the medication, and once a year thereafter.
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