A national shortage in a common treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder was associated with changes in stimulant prescriptions filled for children over recent years, a study suggests. 

The dispensing of prescription stimulants – a crucial therapy option for children with ADHD – fell sharply at the onset of the 2020 COVID pandemic but then began to recover, according to the research in Pediatrics.

The Federal Drug Administration’s announcement of a shortage in the stimulant Adderall in October 2022 was followed by a plunge in prescription fills of the medication to kids, adolescents and teens.

Simultaneously, however, the dispensing of other types of stimulants grew.

“Our findings suggest that the Adderall shortage did not cause many children to stop stimulant therapy altogether, but it did force some to switch to alternative stimulants,” said lead author Sijia He, M.S., a researcher at the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center in the University of Michigan.

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“This would be potentially concerning if the switches may have resulted in worsened ADHD control. We need more research to evaluate whether any switches led to adverse outcomes.”

He and colleagues analyzed changes in stimulant dispensing to children ages 5-17 between 2017 to 2023 using national data that captures 92% of United States prescriptions.

The research is believed to be one of the first national studies to evaluate trends in stimulant prescription fills to children during the COVID-19 pandemic and shortage of Adderall.

At the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, researchers found, the monthly stimulant dispensing rate to children declined by nearly 455 children per 100,000 – or a nearly 19% decrease compared to January 2017.

After March 2020, this rate slowly edged up every month. 

In October 2022, when the Adderall shortage emerged, dispensing rates for Adderall decreased while the dispensing rate for dexmethylphenidate, commonly known as Focalin, climbed.

Source: https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/adderall-shortage-may-be-associated-increased-use-alternative-adhd-medication-kids