title: Quality of evidence in drug compendia supporting off-label use of typical and atypical antipsychotic medications.
abstract: Public and private payers use drug compendia to make coverage determinations, yet the quality of evidence they contain has received little scrutiny. We examined compendia citations regarding antipsychotic drugs, an important drug class given their substantial costs and widespread use. Nearly three-fold as many off-label indications were recommended for atypical as for typical agents, a difference that did not appear to be due to differences in quality of evidence for typical and atypical off-label indications. Given the important role that compendia play in evidence synthesis, coverage decisions, and ultimately, prescription utilization, these data suggest greater efforts are needed to improve the quality of evidence and transparency of evidence evaluations compendia contain.
authors.affiliation: SPKMD and Associates, Harrisburg, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Paczynski
authors.forename: G Caleb
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Vernon M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Chinchilli
authors.forename: Stefan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Kruszewski
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017277:Drug Approval / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004348:Drug Labeling; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D056687:Off-Label Use / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D010602:Pharmacopoeias as Topic / Q000592:standards; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D055553:Prescription Drugs