A multi-criteria decision-making approach for schizophrenia treatment techniques

Abstract

Aim of the study: There are different schizophrenia treatment approaches used to manage the disorder. The objective of this study is to show that the multi-criteria decision-making approach can be applied for selecting the most appropriate schizophrenia treatment. We propose the use of the fuzzy Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE) technique for evaluating and comparing schizophrenia treatment techniques. Methods: The most commonly used therapy techniques for schizophrenia, namely pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoeducation program, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and electroconvulsive therapy were selected. The side effects, efficacy, time of treatment, cost of treatment, and comfort level were used as the criteria for the analysis. Criteria weights and preference function were used while computing the difference of alternatives contribution. After defining the values of each criteria, we set the weights and the preference function, and finally obtained the results with the Decision Lab program for two different cases: high importance is given to the efficacy, side effects, and patient comfort; the same level of importance is given to all criteria. Results: The results show that pharmacotherapy is the most preferred technique in both cases, while other techniques have different stages in the complete ranking based on the assigned weights. Discussion: One can easily adapt more treatment techniques and criteria and assign their weights based on a specific patient profile. Conclusion: The proposed technique for the decision-making process is an important tool that can be considered by clinicians as well as patients/families in selecting the most appropriate treatment technique.