A simple questionnaire filled out by people suffering from depression can help identify whether a particular medication is likely to help them.
Researchers say data mined from clinical trials could soon help doctors tailor antidepressant therapy to their patients.
Currently, only about 30 percent of patients get relief from the first drug they are prescribed, and it can often take a year or more before doctors find the right medication to alleviate symptoms.
For a new study, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, scientists analyzed data from a large clinical trial on depression and pinpointed 25 questions that best predicted the patients’ response to a particular antidepressant.
They developed a mathematical model to predict whether a patient will respond to the medicine after three months of treatment.
