Fewer antibiotic prescriptions were dispensed to infants, children and adolescents in 2010 than in the past, but prescriptions dispensed for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder were among those that increased, according to a study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The study analyzed large outpatient retail prescription databases and found that 263.6 million prescriptions were prescribed for patients ages 17 and under in 2010, a 7% decrease from 2002. (Prescriptions for the adult population increased 22% during the same time period.)

Compared with 2002, drug trends in 2010 showed a decrease in systemic antibiotic prescriptions, which dropped 14%, although antibiotics remained the most frequently dispensed medication for pediatric patients. Trends showed decreases in allergy (-61%), pain (-14%) and depression (-5%) prescriptions.

Prescriptions for cough/cold without expectorant medications dropped 42% during the study period, possibly in part because of an FDA advisory in 2008 against the use of such medications in very young children.

The researchers found increases in asthma (14%), ADHD (46%) and contraceptive (93%) prescriptions. Amoxicillin was the most frequently dispensed prescription in both infants and children ages 2 to 11, while methylphenidate was the top prescription dispensed to adolescents. Off-label use was identified, particularly for lansoprazole.

"Identification of drugs with the highest numbers of patients exposed can help focus research efforts on those drugs that could have a large impact on the pediatric population," the authors wrote.

The study appeared June 18 on the website of Pediatrics. To download a PDF, visit http://bit.ly/L8GJYL.