Differences in abuse potential of ADHD drugs measured by contrasting poison centre and therapeutic use data

Clinical Toxicology : the Official Journal of the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists
Louise Schow JensenKim Peder Dalhoff

Abstract

Atomoxetine (ATX) is the treatment of choice for attention deficit hyperactivity disorders with co-morbid risk of drug abuse, although its abuse potential needs to be qualified. The purpose of this study is to analyse ATX misuse in relation to therapeutic use and compare our results with that of methylphenidate (MPH). Data on enquiries were extracted from the Danish Poison Information Centre database (January 2006 to June 2012), while data on therapeutic use were provided by the Danish State Serum Institute (2007-2011). The study included 28 ATX and 394 MPH enquiries. Frequency of ATX enquiries did not show a significant correlation to either sale or number of treated patients but for MPH, both correlations were significant (p = 0.001 and p = 0.0008, respectively). The enquiries/number of treated patients relationship differed significantly between ATX and MPH (p = 0.018), but not the enquiries/sale relationship. The proportion of exposures motivated by recreational drug use was significantly lower for ATX (19%) than that for MPH (40%) (p = 0.038). These results suggest that ATX is used by adults for non-medical purposes including recreational use, but to a lesser extent than MPH.

References

Nov 15, 2002·Neuropsychopharmacology : Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology·Frank P BymasterKenneth W Perry
Nov 9, 2006·The Annals of Pharmacotherapy·Mathias B Forrester
May 15, 2007·Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Part a·Mathias B Forrester
Mar 11, 2008·Drug and Alcohol Dependence·Donald R JasinskiAlbert J Allen
Sep 15, 2010·Journal of Attention Disorders·Philip L HazellGregory W van Wyk
Mar 22, 2012·European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·Anton PottegårdSøren Ilsøe Moreno

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Mar 5, 2016·The Medical Journal of Australia·Rose CairnsJonathan Brett
Apr 7, 2017·Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety·Jose Martinez-RagaEloisa Carabal

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Attention Disorders

Attention is involved in all cognitive activities, and attention disorders are reported in patients with various neurological diseases. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to attention disorders.