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 .
Clozapine, diabetes mellitus, weight gain, and lipid abnormalities: A five-year naturalistic study.
OBJECTIVE The goal of this 5-year naturalistic study of patients treated with clozapine  was to examine the incidence of treatment-emergent diabetes mellitus in relation to other factors , including weight gain , lipid abnormalities , age , clozapine dose , and treatment with valproate . METHOD Data on age , gender , race , diagnosis , family history of diabetes , and age at clozapine initiation were collected from medical records of 82 out patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder .  Clozapine dose , data on use of valproate , and laboratory test results were recorded at 6-month intervals . RESULTS The mean age at the time of clozapine initiation of the 82 patients was 36.4 years ; 26.8 % of the patients were women , and 91.5 % were Caucasian . The mean baseline weight was 175.5 lb , and the mean body mass index was 26.9 kg/m(2 ) . Thirty patients ( 36.6 % ) were diagnosed with diabetes during the 5-year follow-up . Weight gain , use of valproate , and total daily dose of clozapine  were not significant risk factors for developing diabetes mellitus . Patients experienced significant weight gain that continued until approximately month 46 from initiation of clozapine . There was a nonsignificant increase in total serum cholesterol and a significant increase in serum triglycerides level . CONCLUSIONS The results support the hypotheses that patients treated with clozapine  experience significant weight gain and lipid abnormalities and appear to be at increased risk for developing diabetes
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 .