Minji Sohn

Materials for Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms: Molecular Pharmaceutics and Controlled Release Drug Delivery Aspects

Controlled release delivery is available for many routes of administration and offers many advantages (as microparticles and nanoparticles) over immediate release delivery. These advantages include reduced dosing frequency, better therapeutic control, fewer side effects, and, consequently, these dosage forms are well accepted by patients. Advances in polymer material science, particle engineering design, manufacture, and nanotechnology have led the way to the introduction of several marketed controlled release products and several more are in pre-clinical and clinical development.

Atypical antipsychotic initiation and the risk of type II diabetes in children and adolescents

To estimate the risk of type II diabetes (T2DM) in children and adolescents initiating atypical antipsychotic (AAP) therapy.

National trends in off-label use of atypical antipsychotics in children and adolescents in the United States.

AbstractThe objectives of the study were as follows: to examine the national trend of pediatric atypical antipsychotic (AAP) use in the United States; to identify primary mental disorders associated with AAPs; to estimate the strength of independent associations between patient/provider characteristics and AAP use. Data are from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. First, average AAP prescription rates among 4 and 18-year-old patients between 1993 and 2010 were estimated. Second, data from 2007 to 2010 were combined and analyzed to identify primary mental disorders related to AAP prescription. Third, a multivariate logistic regression model was developed having the presence of AAP prescription as the dependent variable and patient/provider characteristics as explanatory variables. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. Outpatient visits including an AAP prescription among 4 to 18-year-old patients significantly increased between 1993 and 2010 in the United States, and over 65% of those visits did not have diagnoses for US Food and Drug Administration-approved AAP indications. During 2007 to 2010, the most common mental disorder was attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, accounting for 24% of total pediatric AAP visits. Among visits with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis, those with Medicaid as payer (AOR 1.66, 95% CI 1.01–2.75), comorbid mental disorders (e.g., psychoses AOR 3.34, 95% CI 1.35–8.26), and multiple prescriptions (4 or more prescriptions AOR 4.48, 95% CI 2.08–9.64) were more likely to have an AAP prescription. The off-label use of AAPs in children and adolescents is prevalent in the United States. Our study raises questions about the potential misuse of AAPs in the population.

Predictors of consumer satisfaction in community mental health center services.

Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities conducted a survey to evaluate consumers’ satisfaction with services delivered at the Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) in Kentucky. The survey was administered at outpatient clinics operated by fourteen CMHCs in 2010. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that predict whether clients will respond that they were “generally satisfied” with services received from CMHCs. A logistic regression model was developed using respondents’ characteristics and their responses to survey questions. Survey questions were grouped into seven core domains: general satisfaction, access, quality, participation in treatment planning, outcomes, functioning, and social connectedness. In result, responses to domains of access, quality and participation in treatment planning significantly affected clients’ perception of general satisfaction. Respondents who positively assessed those domains of services were more likely to answer that they were generally satisfied with services. Based on the analysis in this report, improvement in certain domains of services, especially access, quality and participation in treatment planning could increase the level of positive responses in general satisfaction.