This study aims to evaluate the rate of prescription and effectiveness of drug monitoring of antipsychotic prescriptions assigned to patients with Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) across socioeconomic and racial backgrounds in Southern California before and after the COVID19 pandemic.

In the United States, most individuals with PDD receive behavioral, pharmaceutical, or a combination of these therapies. Antipsychotics such as Risperidone and Aripiprazole are approved for use in management of agitation, irritability, and self-injurious behaviors in children and adults diagnosed with PDD. Due to their metabolic side effects, these drugs require frequent drug monitoring. The COVID19 pandemic created a disruption in continuity of services. Few studies have followed the long-term impact of this disruption with regard to the prescription and management of antipsychotic prescriptions.

Using i2b2 records, we identified patients with PDD living in 9 counties in Southern California (13152 patients), and then looked across sex/gender, race, ethnicity, and medically served (MSA) versus medically underserved areas (MUA). MSA vs MUA was determined using HRSA maps. The rate of prescriptions of antipsychotics (Aripiprazole and Risperidone), as well as the recommended drug monitoring regimens (BMI, fasting blood glucose or A1c, lipids, blood pressure) were investigated.

Our results reveal an increase in the rate of antipsychotic prescriptions given to individuals with PDD after the pandemic, but also no difference in drug monitoring for PDD patients treated in MSA vs MUA.

Hence, people with PDD in Southern California are more likely to be prescribed antipsychotics now than before COVID19, additionally, our investigation suggests that effectiveness of prescription drug monitoring has been unchanged since the COVID19 pandemic.