Hypnotics. Drug selection by means of the System of Objectified Judgement Analysis (SOJA) method.

Selection of hypnotics for drug formularies in The Netherlands, France and the UK is made by means of the System of Objectified Judgement Analysis (SOJA) method. The following criteria are included in the method: clinical efficacy (maximal 300 points), adverse effects (250 points), clinical documentation (150 points), cost (120 points), pharmacokinetic properties (80 points), toxicity (50 points), drug interactions (30 points) and the number of tablet strengths available (20 points). In all 3 countries, zolpidem, zopiclone and temazepam showed the highest score, followed by lormetazepam. High scores favour inclusion in formularies. Nitrazepam and loprazolam scored 75 to 130 points less than the top 3, and flunitrazepam shows the lowest score (119 to 183 points less than zolpidem, zopiclone and temazepam). Therefore, the first 3 (or 4) hypnotics are most suitable for formulary inclusion while the others are not.