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 .
Medication nonadherence and treatment outcome in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder with suboptimal prior response.
OBJECTIVE To examine the impact of medication nonadherence on treatment outcome in schizophrenia and potential risk factors for nonadherence . METHOD A post hoc analysis of a r and omized , double-blind , 8-week , fixed-dose study comparing olanzapine 10 , 20 , and 40 mg/day for patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder ( DSM-IV criteria ) with suboptimal response to current treatment ( N = 599 ) was conducted between September 12 , 2003 , and November 3 , 2005 , at 55 study centers in the United States . Nonadherence was defined as not taking medication as prescribed based on daily pill counts . Because there was no significant difference in nonadherence between dose groups , effects of nonadherence on efficacy and safety outcomes were examined using all 3 groups combined . Baseline demographics and symptom severity were investigated as potential risk factors for nonadherence . RESULTS During the 8-week study , 34.5 % of patients were nonadherent at least once . Nonadherent patients had significantly less improvement compared to adherent patients as measured by change in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total score ( -22.57 vs. -26.84 , p = .002 ) . Longer duration of nonadherence was associated with reduced likelihood of treatment response ( odds ratio = 0.94 , 95 % CI = 0.90 to 0.99 , p = .008 ) . The early treatment discontinuation rate was higher in nonadherent compared to adherent patients ( 40.8 % vs. 24.5 % , p < .001 ) . Adherent and nonadherent patients had comparable outcomes in most safety measures , except for weight change , for which adherent patients had greater weight gain than nonadherent patients ( 2.63 kg vs. 1.96 kg , p = .02 ) . Greater depression severity at baseline ( p = .01 ) and greater hostility level during the study were significant risk factors for nonadherence ( p = .02 ) . CONCLUSIONS Medication nonadherence had a significantly negative impact on treatment response , highlighting the importance of adherence to achieve satisfactory treatment outcome . Findings may also help clinicians identify patients at risk for nonadherence and utilize interventions to improve adherence . TRIAL REGISTRATION clinical trials.gov Identifier : NCT00100776
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 .