The Use of Second-Generation Antipsychotics and the Changes in Physical Growth in Children and Adolescents with Perinatally Acquired HIV

Abstract Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are increasingly prescribed to treat psychiatric symptoms in pediatric patients infected with HIV. We examined the relationship between prescribed SGAs and physical growth in a cohort of youth with perinatally acquired HIV-1 infection. Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group (PACTG), Protocol 219C (P219C), a multicenter, longitudinal observational study of children and adolescents perinatally exposed to HIV, was conducted from September 2000 until May 2007. The analysis included P219C participants who were perinatally HIV-infected, 3–18 years old, prescribed first SGA for at least 1 month, and had available baseline data prior to starting first SGA. Each participant prescribed an SGA was matched (based on gender, age, Tanner stage, baseline body mass index [BMI] z score) with 1–3 controls without antipsychotic prescriptions. The main outcomes were short-term (approximately 6 months) and long-term (approximately 2 years) changes in BMI z scores from baseline. T...