How psychiatrists inform themselves and their patients about risks and benefits of antipsychotic treatment.
OBJECTIVE
In order to choose the best treatment option, physicians have to inform themselves and their patients about both the benefits and risks of available treatment options equally. Our study aims to investigate whether psychiatrists actually do conduct such a balanced information search and presentation.


METHODS
Psychiatrists' information search and information presentation to a patient with schizophrenia were studied using two separate experiments. In both, participants were presented with hypothetical case vignettes and descriptions of fictitious antipsychotics.


RESULTS
When searching for information, psychiatrists looked more for risks than benefits of antipsychotic treatment options (t = -3.4, df = 74, P = 0.001). However, when informing a patient, they named more benefits than risks (t = 17.1, df = 224, P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The risk-biased information search presumably follows the principle of 'primum non nocere'. The benefit-biased information presentation might be motivated by the wish to persuade patients to accept the proposed therapy.
Mendel
R
R
Department of Psychiatry, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany.
Hamann
J
J
Traut-Mattausch
E
E
Jonas
E
E
Heres
S
S
Frey
D
D
Kissling
W
W
D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002983:Clinical Competence; D030881:Disclosure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011570:Psychiatry; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents