We were able to rank most of the psychotropics based on the available evidence and recommendations from subject matter experts .
There were few discrepancies between published evidence and the expert panel in ranking these drugs .
Conclusion Potential for weight gain is an important consideration in choice of any psychotropic .
This tool will help clinicians select psychotropics on a case-by-case basis in order to minimize the impact of weight gain when making both intra-class and interclass choices
Introduction Psychotropic medication use is associated with  weight gain .
While there are studies and review s comparing weight gain for psychotropics within some classes , clinicians frequently use drugs from different classes to treat psychiatric disorders .
Objective To undertake a systematic review of all classes of psychotropics to provide an all encompassing evidence -based tool that would allow clinicians to determine the risks of weight gain in making both intra-class and interclass choices of psychotropics .
Does switching to a new antipsychotic improve outcomes?: Data from the CATIE Trial
PURPOSE Previous analysis of data from CATIE showed that patients r and omly assigned to switch to a new medication were more likely to discontinue study drug than those who stayed on the medication they had been taking prior to r and omization . This study addresses additional outcomes measures evaluating symptoms , neurocognition , quality of life , neurological side effects , weight , and health costs . First , considering patients r and omized to olanzapine or risperidone  , outcomes among patients who had been on the drug to which they were r and omized prior to CATIE ( N=129 " stayers " ) were compared to outcomes of those who switched to either of these two drugs ( N=269 " switchers " ) . A second set of analyses considered patients on baseline monotherapy with olanzapine ( N=297 ) ; risperidone ( N=252 ) or quetiapine ( n=87 ) and compared those r and omly assigned to stay on each of these medications with those assigned to switch to any of the other five phase 1 medications in CATIE . In mixed models of each outcome the independent variable of primary interest represented stay vs. switch , with multivariate adjustment for potential confounding factors . RESULTS With one exception , there were no significant differences between stayers and switchers on any outcome measure in either set of analyses . The exception was that , in the second set of analyses , patients who stayed on olanzapine showed greater weight gain than those who switched from olanzapine to other drugs . CONCLUSION Switching to a new medication yielded no advantage over staying on the previous medication . Staying on olanzapine was associated with greater weight gain
We were able to rank most of the psychotropics based on the available evidence and recommendations from subject matter experts .
There were few discrepancies between published evidence and the expert panel in ranking these drugs .
Conclusion Potential for weight gain is an important consideration in choice of any psychotropic .
This tool will help clinicians select psychotropics on a case-by-case basis in order to minimize the impact of weight gain when making both intra-class and interclass choices
Introduction Psychotropic medication use is associated with  weight gain .
While there are studies and review s comparing weight gain for psychotropics within some classes , clinicians frequently use drugs from different classes to treat psychiatric disorders .
Objective To undertake a systematic review of all classes of psychotropics to provide an all encompassing evidence -based tool that would allow clinicians to determine the risks of weight gain in making both intra-class and interclass choices of psychotropics .