title: Old versus new: weighing the evidence between the first- and second-generation antipsychotics.
abstract: In our opinion the best guide to prescribing antipsychotics is the clinician's experience with his patients and in particular the patient being treated. If treatment works, stick with it. We feel it is also important for the clinician to consider the evidence from well-controlled double-blind random-assignment studies because in "evidence-based medicine," biases both known and unknown are controlled by blinding and randomization. The purpose of this paper is to summarize and discuss the evidence on efficacy. Choice of antipsychotic, in our opinion, is probably the most important decision that the clinician makes for the psychotic patient. This involves the choice of drug, its dose, balancing efficacy, side-effects and cost.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry (M/C 912), University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, 1601 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, USA. jdavis@psych.uic.edu
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012008:Recurrence; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents