title: How long do psychiatrists wait for response before they switch to another antipsychotic?
abstract: For how long an antipsychotic should be tried before it is considered ineffective is an important but as yet unanswered question. For the individual patient, it is of great relevance whether to be maintained on an ineffective drug for 2, 4, 6, or 8 weeks. Interviews with two samples of German hospital psychiatrists were undertaken to study treatment patterns with respect to antipsychotic nonresponse. Psychiatrists waited for an average of 3 weeks before switching antipsychotics due to nonresponse. However, there was considerable practice variation between individual physicians and hospitals. In practice, this might result in different lengths of drug trials for individual patients depending on the admitting hospital. Evidence based guidance for psychiatrists is needed to avoid too early switches or too long drug trials.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Department, Technische Universität München, Möhlstraße 26, München, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hamann
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kissling
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leucht
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011570:Psychiatry; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents