[The Personal Antipsychotic Choice Index]

More than half of the patients suffering from a first psychotic episode withdraw from antipsychotic medication within the first year of treatment. Shared decision making could enhance the therapeutic relationship and thus adherence. AIM: To describe an online decision aid for the selection of antipsychotic medication: the Personal Antipsychotic Choice Index (www.pakwijzer.nl). METHOD: Per effect and side effect, the 15 most commonly prescribed antipsychotics in the Netherlands have been ranked on the basis of data on the magnitude of a desired effect and the chance of a side effect, based on a systematic literature study. We assigned scores to antipsychotics for each desired and undesired effect and processed these scores in an algorithm. A personal ranking of antipsychotics is calculated based on the value that patients attach to these effects. RESULTS: These desired and undesired criteria used are rated in the PACindex: effectiveness concerning psychotic, depressive and cognitive symptoms, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, drowsiness, hypersomnia, extrapyramidal symptoms, anticholinergic adverse effects, hypersalivation, nausea, dizziness, energy loss, blunted affect/less need for companionship. High level evidence was available for ranking weight gain, sexual dysfunction, menstrual disorders, extrapyramidal symptoms and effectiveness on psychotic symptoms. We used lower level evidence ranking the remaining criteria. CONCLUSION: A ready applicable online choixe index for the use of an antipsychotic agent has been developed and put into use. The PACindex could be updated when new evidence of new antipsychotics became available..