Predicting Response to Depression Treatment (PReDicT)

Depression is a very common, serious and in some cases life-threatening condition, affecting around 350 million people globally. Approximately 11% of citizens in the European Union suffer from depression at some point in their lives. Depression is associated with significant socio-economic costs and has been predicted to become the greatest cause of disability worldwide by 2030 . In 2010 it was estimated that there were approximately 30 million patients with depression in Europe, with aggregated economic costs of approximately €92 billion . Improvements in managing the treatment of depression are urgently needed to improve patient outcomes, contain rising healthcare costs, improve workplace productivity and help to address global economic and societal challenges. While a range of effective antidepressant medications are available to treat depression, it takes 4-6 weeks after starting antidepressant treatment before a physician can detect whether the treatment is working. However, surprisingly, more than 50% of patients fail to respond to the first antidepressant treatment they are prescribed. Therefore, it often takes several months to identify an effective antidepressant treatment for the majority of patients with depression. During this time a patient's ability to work and function socially is severely impaired. Individuals may be absent from work for many weeks or months and this places a substantial burden on the economy and on healthcare resources.