Compared to other reports targeting

Compared to other reports targeting the analysis of the relative importance of different symptoms for diagnosis and severity assessment of depressive disorder by means of an AHP, the group of professionals is much larger in the present study.13,14 While the study sample in the present study is small compared to the number of practicing psychiatrists and thus may be influenced by several confounders (eg, the setting in which they practice), the number is much larger than in the previous studies using AHP in health professionals.13,14 The present study used established endpoints of toxicity and adverse events. The symptoms used to determine the preferences for treatment goals are those symptoms used to characterize depressive disorder in the diagnostic clas- sification system of the DSM and ICD. Thus, on grounds of these results, some light can be shed on the ranking of symptoms in clinical practice. Using established symptoms of depressive disorder, the present study avoids arbitrary labeling and choice of symptoms used in prior studies.13,14 Moreover, it determines preferences concerning toxicity, side effects, and symptoms in separate questionnaires, thus avoiding the mingling of target symptoms and side effects in prior studies.13,14