Disbursed prescription stimulants amongst US adults aged 64 years and youthful. Credit score: JAMA Psychiatry (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0054
Analysis carried out by the Nationwide Institute on Drug Abuse, the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Companies Administration, and the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention reveals that 1 in 4 adults utilizing prescription stimulants engaged in misuse, and practically 1 in 10 met the factors for prescription stimulant use dysfunction (PSUD).
Findings present that amphetamine customers have been extra prone to expertise PSUD than these prescribed methylphenidate. Elevated prescribing charges, significantly amongst middle-aged girls, have been noticed, but this demographic exhibited decrease misuse charges than youthful adults.
Issues over stimulant misuse have grown as prescribing charges for these medicines, generally used to deal with attention-deficit/hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD), have elevated. Medical follow pointers for grownup ADHD stay absent, resulting in variations in analysis and therapy. Questions on acceptable use persist as analysis signifies each the protecting advantages of ADHD pharmacotherapy and its potential dangers, together with misuse, overprescription, and growth of use issues.
Within the research, “Prescription Stimulant Use, Misuse, and Use Disorder Among US Adults Aged 18 to 64 Years,” printed in JAMA Psychiatry, researchers carried out a cross-sectional survey research to grasp patterns of prescription stimulant use and misuse amongst adults.
Stimulant prescribing traits from 2019 by way of 2022 have been examined utilizing pharmaceutical databases that captured 93% of outpatient prescriptions disbursed in U.S. retail pharmacies. Further knowledge on stimulant misuse, PSUD prevalence, and related behavioral well being situations have been drawn from the NSDUH survey outcomes. Survey responses from 83,762 adults aged 18 to 64 years have been analyzed.
A, Proportions of people with and with out prescription stimulant misuse general and by PSUD severity. B, Proportions of PSUD by prescription stimulant treatment kind. Credit score: JAMA Psychiatry (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0054
Outcomes point out that 25.3% of adults utilizing prescription stimulants reported misuse, with 9.0% assembly the factors for PSUD. Amongst these with PSUD, 72.9% used solely their very own prescribed stimulants, and 87.1% have been prescribed amphetamines. Evaluation revealed that amphetamine customers have been 3.1 occasions extra prone to misuse their treatment than these prescribed methylphenidate, with a 2.2 occasions higher probability of growing PSUD.
Prescriptions for stimulants elevated throughout all demographics, with probably the most substantial rise occurring amongst girls aged 35 to 64 years. Misuse of prescription stimulants was extra widespread amongst people with despair, suicidal ideation, or concurrent substance use issues. Girls aged 35 to 64 years exhibited a decrease prevalence of misuse than youthful adults, with charges of 13.7% in comparison with 36.8% amongst girls aged 18 to 25 years.
Based on the research authors, “Our results underscore the importance of developing and implementing clinical practice guidelines for adult ADHD and strengthening evidence-based clinician training programs on adult ADHD diagnosis and multimodal care. Moreover, our findings highlight the need for prevention and intervention of prescription stimulant misuse, diversion, or PSUD regardless of misuse status and the reasons for prescribing stimulants.”
Extra data:
Beth Han et al, Prescription Stimulant Use, Misuse, and Use Dysfunction Amongst US Adults Aged 18 to 64 Years, JAMA Psychiatry (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.0054
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