New research shows that the number of prescriptions written for stimulants and antidepressants is on the rise.
Prescriptions for stimulants increased by 37.5% from 2019 to 2022, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open. The number of antidepressant prescriptions also increased, jumping up by 21%.
An increased share of stimulant and antidepressant prescriptions were written via telehealth appointments, the study also found.
“These findings align with existing research highlighting the shift toward telehealth and the rise in stimulant and opioid telehealth prescribing during the pandemic,” the study’s authors wrote. “While in-person prescribing remains the most common, increasing telehealth utilization across medications suggests a growing acceptance, need, or preference for remote services.”
The proportion of stimulant prescriptions written via a telehealth appointment increased from 1.4% in 2019 to 38% in 2022. Telehealth prescriptions for antidepressants increased from 1.5% in 2019 to 31.4% in 2022.
While stimulant and antidepressant prescriptions increased, opioid prescriptions decreased by 17.2% from 2019 to 2022, according to the study. Telehealth prescriptions for opioids have also become more common, increasing by a factor of 188. All opioid prescriptions were written in person in 2019. By 2022, 8.4% were written via telehealth.
“While in-person prescribing remains the most common, increasing telehealth utilization across medications suggests a growing acceptance, need, or preference for remote services,” the study notes.
Female patients’ reliance on telehealth is growing at a faster clip than male patients’, the report found, especially for stimulants. This distinction could represent differences in prescription needs or access preferences among the sexes, the authors wrote.
Demand for telehealth services is unlikely to ever evaporate completely, although it has decreased in popularity since its heyday during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Physicians’ ability to prescribe controlled substances via telehealth could be diminished, however. Legal flexibilities during the pandemic to allow prescriptions to continue to be written remotely are set to expire at the end of 2024. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is reportedly seeking to roll these flexibilities back and potentially require physicians to prescribe at least half of all prescriptions in person, among other restrictions.
