Prof. Dr. Guido van Wingen discusses the potential of, and barriers to, the use of AI in transforming the treatment of depression by analyzing clinical and biological data to improve prediction accuracy for treatment outcomes
Depression is one of the leading causes of disability. One reason is that treatment is only moderately effective and often involves trial and error. Initial psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy works for approximately 40% of patients, while others need additional treatments but experience lower success rates. (1)
Decades of research have been dedicated to identifying clinical or biological markers to guide treatment selection. They aim to shorten treatment trajectories, lower disease burden, reduce absenteeism, and the load on the healthcare system and associated costs. But where clinical and…