J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2025 May 9. doi: 10.1097/JCP.0000000000002011. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND: Examining a patient’s family history of medication response is a commonly used method to inform treatment selection. Though widely recommended, there are no published reviews that assess the validity of this approach when treating patients with affective disorders.
METHODS/PROCEDURES: All published studies in the form of case-control or randomized controlled trials that enrolled probands with either bipolar I or II depression or major depression and were written in English were included. Studies must have also included biological relatives and must have included at least 2 families. The authors compared the methodology of each trial to a hierarchy of study designs best suited to demonstrate the predictive ability of a family history of response to a medication.
FINDINGS/RESULTS: All studies involved only a small number of participants and none of the publications included in this review used a study design that reached the highest level of study quality needed to prove the link between 2 family members’ likelihood of response to a medicine. Two studies had some elements of a level I study while the remaining studies were classified at level II or III of the study hierarchy.
IMPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: Although small studies suggest that a family history of drug response can predict outcome in mood disorder patients, the designs of these studies do not confirm this in a definitive manner.
PMID:40338524 | DOI:10.1097/JCP.0000000000002011
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