Citation of the AGNP consensus guidelines for therapeutic drug monitoring in psychiatry 2004 in the scientific literature 2004 to 2011

Introduction: Guidelines in medicine are designed to translate evidence based knowledge into care. In 2004, the task force on therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Neuropsychopharmakologie und Pharmakopsychiatrie (AGNP) published consensus guidelines for TDM in psychiatry [1]. Objectives: By an analysis of the scientific literature which cited the AGNP guidelines we wanted to find out to which extent and for which purposes the guidelines were recognized. Methods: Using the Web of Science, articles that cited the TDM guidelines were analysed for the frequencies of citations and their content. Content analysis was conducted to find out the context the authors referred to the guidelines. Results: Between 2004 and 2011, the TDM consensus guidelines of the AGNP were cited 220 times, starting in 2004 with 16 citations and continuing with a constant rate of 34 to 37 citations per year from 2007 until 2011. The analysis of the citations showed that the following main categories of articles were particularly represented: clinical pharmacological reviews 40%, clinical research 23%, and method development for drug analysis 14%. Many articles (43%) referred to the reference ranges or to the indications for TDM reported in the guidelines. Conclusion: Content analysis of Web of Science listed articles revealed that the evidence based guidelines on TDM in psychiatry were well recognized in the scientific community not only in association with TDM guided treatment optimisation but also for research purposes. Reference: [1] Baumann P et al. Pharmacopsychiatry 37:243–265, 2004.