Cardiometabolic Risk of Second-Generation Antipsychotic Medications During First-Time Use in Children and Adolescents

Top Cited Papers
Open Access
Abstract
Second-generation antipsychotic medications are commonly and increasingly prescribed to children and adolescents in the United States as first-line treatment for psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, and nonpsychotic mental disorders.1 Increasingly, the cardiometabolic effects of second-generation antipsychotic medications have raised concern.2 Cardiometabolic adverse effects, such as age-inappropriate weight gain, obesity, hypertension, and lipid and glucose abnormalities, are particularly problematic during development because they predict adult obesity, the metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular morbidity, and malignancy.3-6