EVENT: Evidence-based shared decision-making assistant for antipsychotics
The project is funded by the Innovation Fund of the German Federal Government (funding code: 01VSF19022). More information here.
Selecting the appropriate antipsychotic is a crucial medical decision in the treatment of schizophrenia. This decision requires not only careful risk-benefit assessments of different medications but also consideration of the preferences and values of the individual patient. Although well-established information exists regarding the efficacy and side-effect profiles of antipsychotics, there is no framework that combines medical evidence on antipsychotics with patient preferences and values within a shared decision-making process.
To address this gap, we have developed an evidence-based tool called the Shared-Decision-Making Assistant (SDM-assistant) for selecting antipsychotics. This tool supports shared decision-making by providing and visualizing information about the efficacy and side effects of different antipsychotics, based on high-quality network meta-analysis.
We are currently conducting a cluster-randomized trial comparing the use of the SDM-assistant with treatment as usual in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia.
If successful, implementing the SDM-assistant could enhance evidence-based medicine in schizophrenia by incorporating patient preferences and values into treatment decisions, leading to improved patient involvement in decision-making and more effective treatment choices.
The protocol was registered a priori in the German Clinical Trial Register (ID: DRKS00027316) and published in BMC Psychiatry:
Siafis S, Bursch N, Müller K, Schmid L, Schuster F, Waibel J, Huynh T, Matthes F, Rodolico A, Brieger P, Bühner M. Evidence-based Shared-Decision-Making Assistant (SDM-assistant) for choosing antipsychotics: protocol of a cluster-randomized trial in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Jun 17;22(1):406. (Link)
Correspondence: Dr. Spyridon Siafis, email: spyridon.siafis@tum.de
Supervisors: Prof. Stefan Leucht, Prof. Johannes Hamann (previous co-supervisor with Prof. Stefan Leucht)
EVENT Team (current): Stefan Leucht, Katharina Müller, Spyridon Siafis, Ivana Ivandic, Keelin Hyde, Natascha Wilde, and Natalie Peter