Objective: Safe and effective antipsychotic prescribing is a fundamental skill in psychiatric practice; however, antipsychotic medications are not without risk. These risks are increased when antipsychotics are prescribed in high doses, with or without polypharmacy. Decision-making regarding antipsychotic prescribing can be hampered by a lack of readily available or easily approachable tools for calculating and interpreting total daily doses, especially when antipsychotic polypharmacy is involved. Our objective was to create an accessible method for calculating antipsychotic total daily dosing.
Methods: We have developed an online calculator for determining antipsychotic total daily dose using information on recommended maximum total daily dosing based on the British National Formulary.
Results: This calculator is free, easy to implement and allows for users to input a large variety of possible antipsychotic dosing regimens.
Conclusions: It is hoped that this tool will allow clinicians to readily review their prescribing practice, inform decision-making and improve patient safety outcomes. Further research may be appropriate to determine the impact of this tool on these intended goals.
Keywords: antipsychotic prescribing; calculator; online tool; polypharmacy.