title: Which drug class and why?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Having made the diagnosis, decided on therapeutic goals and the therapeutic approach, the next step is choice of drug class.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This article discusses the four factors to be considered when choosing an appropriate drug class: efficacy, safety, suitability and cost.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The first consideration in choosing a drug class is the relative efficacy compared with other agents for the particular therapeutic goal. Safety is a broad issue involving adverse reactions, toxicity, tolerance and dependence, teratogenicity, and consideration of special at risk populations. Suitability involves consideration of contraindications to the medication as well as other factors such as the requirements for monitoring, drug formulation and the number of daily doses. Cost includes consideration of drug acquisition as well as the total cost of therapy, including by whom the cost is borne.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, University of Adelaide, South Australia. sshakib@mail.rah.sa.gov.au
authors.forename: Sepehr
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shakib
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: George
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000145:classification*; D010600:Pharmacology / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations