Skip to main content

Table 2 Medication and resource use by children in foster care compared to those receiving Medicaid

From: High-level psychotropic polypharmacy: a retrospective comparison of children in foster care to their peers on Medicaid

 

Children with High-Level Polypharmacy

 
 

Foster Care

Medicaida

p

Number of children

417

1823

 

bPychotropic duration (days)

344.00 [315.00, 358.00]

349.00 [326.00, 358.00]

0.004

cPolypharmacy duration (days)

325.00 [278.00, 345.00]

330.00 [289.00, 346.00]

0.104

dPolypharmacy duration (days)

144.00 [67.00, 244.00]

156.00 [78.00, 255.00]

0.119

eAPM duration (days)

285.00 [185.00, 333.00]

281.00 [181.00, 326.00]

0.193

Utilization Measures

 fMetabolic Screen (%)

  

< 0.001

 No screen

248 (59.5)

1328 (72.8)

 

 1 screen

138 (33.1)

426 (23.4)

 

 2 screens

25 (6.0)

64 (3.5)

 

 3 screens

6 (1.4)

5 (0.3)

 

 Emergency Department Visits

2.39 (3.6)

1.72 (3.1)

< 0.001

 Outpatient Visits (mean (SD))

11.09 (9.6)

14.35 (20.0)

0.001

 Inpatient Visits (mean (SD))

0.81 (1.4)

0.36 (0.9)

< 0.001

  1. Note. IQR Intra-quartile range
  2. aChildren receiving Medicaid services who are not in foster care; bat least 1 psychotropic medication (median [IQR]); cat least 2 psychotropic medications (median [IQR]); dat least 4 psychotropic medications (median [IQR]); eat least 1 antipsychotic medication (median [IQR]); fMetabolic screening = presence of both lipid and glucose lab testing, as indicated by CPT codes