Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and Childhood Mental Health Conditions, 2009–2015: Commercial Versus Medicaid Populations

What is it about?

Rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) continue to rise across the United States. Understanding co-occurring mental health conditions in early childhood for children born with NAS remains an under-explored area of research. This study extends the work of a previous analysis in a multi-state Medicaid population to a nationwide commercially-insured population using similar methodology, as well as describe the utilization of psychotropics in this population. The rate of NAS in the Medicaid population was 28.7 times higher than the rate of NAS in the commercially-insured population. Rates of childhood mental health conditions were elevated in the commercially-insured population, but low cell counts require cautious interpretation. This study emphasizes the difference in rates of NAS between the commercially-insured and multi-state Medicaid population and suggests that payer source could act as a proxy for social determinants of health in future analyses.

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