Ritalin use higher in wealthier suburbs

CHICAGO -- Children in Chicago's wealthy outer suburbs are far more likely to be prescribed Ritalin and other drugs to control behavior problems than are children in the city and near suburbs, a newspaper analysis found.

The Chicago Sun-Times found the disparity while examining 641,735 narcotic prescriptions collected by the Illinois Human Services Department over 18 months in 2000 and 2001. The figures from two suburbs, Lincolnshire and Broadview, provide an example of the difference.

In the ZIP code including Lincolnshire, where the average annual adjusted household income is $149,000, enough Ritalin was prescribed to give a 20-milligram dose to more than half the children. In Broadview, with an average household income of $33,000, roughly the same number of children were prescribed five times less Ritalin.

"The system is very much out of balance," said pediatrician Thomas Blondis, who has studied attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with the University of Chicago.

"If guidelines were followed, chances are there would be more kids in the inner-city being treated, and fewer kids in the suburbs being treated," he said.

Studies of other metropolitan areas have come to similar conclusions, said Andrew Adesman, a New York developmental and behavioral pediatrician and member of the advocacy group Children and Adults With Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder.

Pressure to do well

Some wealthy suburbs place pressure on children to perform academically, he said, and "when children don't do well, parents look for explanations, whether it be a learning disability or an attention deficit." Better access to medical specialists may also help explain the disparity.

The Sun-Times reviewed 4,145 prescriptions of Ritalin and similar forms of methylphendate for children 5 and younger in the Chicago area, and 3,576 of Dexedrine and Adderall for that age group.

Some fear the drugs are overprescribed, and that the powerful stimulants are being prescribed to ever-younger children. The study found that boys are far more likely than girls to receive the drugs and that a couple of dozen babies and toddlers in the Chicago area are on Ritalin and similar drugs.