Spatial distribution of children used Ritalin at the neuropediatrics clinic in Maringá (PR), Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Blackground Brazil is the second largest consumer of methylphenidate in the world. Considering the social determinants on the health of people and communities, the objective of the research is to evaluate the influence of social and economic factors on the prescription of methylphenidate for school-age children. Methods Quantitative exploratory study with primary data collected from the electronic medical records of school-aged children, 6 to 11 years old, in a neuropediatric clinic at a Basic Health Unit of the Unified Health System (SUS) in a city located in the southern region of Brazil, with the date of the last withdrawal of methylphenidate between the period of March 2017 to November 2019. Results 104 patients who used methylphenidate were evaluated, 85 male and 19 female, with an average age of 8.26 years at the outpatient clinic and 9.19 years currently, the youngest being 6 years old and the largest 11 years old, with deviation 1.47 standard. Preliminary results indicate that 50.96% of prescriptions were aimed at children from places of greatest social vulnerability. Conclusions It was found that the majority of school-age children prescribed ritalin at the clinic are from poor neighborhoods. Building this panorama based on socioeconomic determinants suggests the need to understand the influence of how environments with higher levels of violence can influence the health-disease process, both for integrality to diagnosis and for longitudinality to treatment. New studies are suggested that consider children who have not been treated in the public health service. Key messages Impact of the evaluation of socioeconomic determinants on the prescription of methylphenidate for school-age children. Integral and longitudinal treatment with methylphenidate for children from poor areas.