Comorbidities as predictor of polypharmacy in autism spectrum disorder

Editorial: Comorbidity and Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…It is important to be cautious when facing unexplained multi-system involvement in a patient with ASD. Think of an underlying comorbidity if: there are unexplained signs and symptoms (including self-injurious and heteroaggressive behaviors), in the case of maladaptive behaviors that cannot be contextualized during psycho-educational behavioral assessments (e.g., functional analysis), there are changes from baseline (including regression of skills-especially after 3 years of age), the patient is not responding as expected to therapeutic interventions, has a history of frequent visits to the emergency room, has a history of perinatal complications, or is taking multiple drugs along with over-the-counter (OTC) medications and dietary supplements (20)(21)(22)(23). It is mandatory in these patients to screen for comorbidities by first taking a structured review of systems.…”

Adults with Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder: What Is the Evidence around the Use of Polypharmacy

“…A study from Spain of 66 adults with ASD by [ 19 ] found the presence of ID to be a significant predictor of polypharmacy (defined in the study as the use of two or more psychotropic drugs in the same individual). Another study [ 3 ], which sought to identify predictors of psychotropic polypharmacy in those with ID, audited the prescribing practice for 517 adults with ID who were referred to a specialised psychiatric outpatient clinic between 2005 and 2013.…”