Determinants of prescription drug use by adolescents with intellectual disabilities in Taiwan.
Nearly 1 in 4 Taiwanese teens with ID take daily drugs, mostly for epilepsy or mood, so BCBAs should screen for side effects and help families question long scripts.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Yen et al. (2009) asked 1,419 Taiwanese teens with intellectual disability about their medicine use. Parents filled out a survey. They listed every pill the teen took each day.
The team wanted to know how many kids used drugs and why. They looked for links between pills and health problems.
What they found
Almost 1 in 4 teens took daily medicine. The top reasons were epilepsy and mental-health needs. Caregivers said many factors pushed use higher.
The rate is lower than in Finland, where 4 out of 5 adults with ID take drugs. It matches later Taiwan data that shows psychotropic use keeps rising.
How this fits with other research
Hsu et al. (2014) tracked the same group later. They saw psychotropic use climb from 18% to 23%. The teen rate sits inside that trend line.
Boswell et al. (2023) found 83% of Finnish adults with ID use medicine. The gap looks huge, but age and data source differ. Both warn of heavy antipsychotic load.
de Kuijper et al. (2013) show long-term antipsychotics bring side effects like weight gain and tremor. One in two users had movement problems. High dose and severe ID raised risk.
Why it matters
If you serve teens with ID, expect pills. Check each med at every review. Ask why it started and if it is still needed. Track weight, blood sugar, and movement. Teach families to speak up about side effects. A short med list is safer.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Direct family caregivers of population-based adolescents with intellectual disabilities in Taiwan were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the use of prescribed medication and its relationship with health-related behaviors, medical care and preventive health utilization of people with intellectual disabilities. Cross-sectional data on 1419 adolescents 12-17 years of age was collected from the 2007 National Survey on Healthy Behaviors and Preventive Health Utilizations of People with Intellectual Disabilities in Taiwan. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine risk profiles in relation to the use of prescribed medication and other relevant variables: participant characteristics, health-related behaviors, medical care and preventive health utilization. The results indicate that 47.1% of subjects were accompanied by other impairments, the morbidity prevalence was 16.5% and 23.8% of subjects were reported to have used prescribed medication regularly in the past 6 months. The main reasons for medication use were epilepsy (36.9%), psychiatric problems (24.2%) and gastrointestinal problems (6.3%). A large majority of caregivers reported that the subject's health status was excellent (15.4%), good (38%) or fair (38%), and only 6.5% were reported to be in bad health. Finally, data were analyzed using a logistic regression model to identify possible reasons for drug use. The following factors correlate with the regular use of prescribed medication by adolescents with intellectual disabilities: Down syndrome, possession of a Major Illness Card, a history of smoking, an additional impairment, reported health status, outpatient care and acceptance of other specific medical examinations. Our principal conclusion was that these data indicate a need for more education on a variety of issues, including predisposition, healthy behavior, medical care and preventive health utilization issues as they relate to prescribed medication use, and assessment of the long-term effects of drug use on people with intellectual disabilities.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2009 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2009.06.002