National prescribing practices of adolescent psychiatrists for psychotropic medications in outpatient care in Finland.

We studied national prescribing practices for psychotropic drugs in adolescent psychiatric outpatient care in Finland in the cross-sectional survey study in 1999. A questionnaire was sent to the adolescent psychiatrists employed in the community outpatient clinics covering all Finland. The response rate was 81% (n=34). On average, the respondents reported that 33% of their outpatients were treated with drugs. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the drug of choice in the treatment of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Atypical antipsychotics played an important role in the treatment of psychotic adolescents. Adolescent psychopharmacology is an important and developing part of treatment of mentally disordered young people, on the understanding that drug therapies are adjunct to other treatment interventions.