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 .
Long-term efficacy and safety of aripiprazole in patients with schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, or schizoaffective disorder: 26-week prospective study.
AIMS To date there have been no reports of long-term efficacy of aripiprazole in Asian population s. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the long-term efficacy , safety and tolerability of aripiprazole in a large number of patients with schizophrenia , schizophreniform disorder , or schizoaffective disorder in Korea . METHODS This study was a prospect i ve , multicenter , single-group , 26-week open study of patients with schizophrenia , schizophreniform disorder , or schizoaffective disorder . A total of 300 Korean patients participated in the study . The primary efficacy measure was the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale ( PANSS ) total score , and secondary efficacy measures included the PANSS positive and negative subscales , Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Illness ( CGI-S ) . Tolerability and safety were assessed by monitoring the frequency and severity of treatment-emergent adverse events , extrapyramidal symptoms ( EPS ) , vital signs , weight , and laboratory tests . RESULTS Aripiprazole produced rapid and significant improvements on all efficacy measures . As evidence d by PANSS total score , PANSS positive subscales and the CGI-S scores , first-episode drug-naive patients demonstrated significantly greater efficacy relative to patients who had previously experienced one or more episodes of relapse . Aripiprazole was associated with significant decrease of serum prolactin level . The subjects showed mild weight gain . CONCLUSION Aripiprazole is an effective antipsychotic in the long-term treatment of both positive and negative symptoms . This study extends the findings of previous long-term studies , and has found that there is no significant difference with regard to ethnicity in response to aripiprazole
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 .