Comparing antidepressants? There’s an app for that

There’s an “app” for everything these days. Now one has come out that is supposed to be able to “recommend antidepressant therapies specific to different patient characteristics.”

The "Clinaptica Depression Consultant” is made by a company called Scaled Psychiatric Systems and you can get it at the App Store for less than $5.

Based on research conducted by Richard Metzner, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA, the app uses patented software to generate suggestions for individualizing new or ongoing antidepressant treatment with various classes of medication.

By answering simple questions, patients provide data that is processed into recommendations and color-coded results for the physician. Output can be saved, printed and shared between patients and professionals.

Metzner recently presented findings from a recent study, which showed patients newly treated for depression under the system’s guidance recovered at “twice the expected rate.”

Approximately 3,000 patients have been treated by health professionals using the online version. According to Apple, it has already been downloaded from App Stores in 18 countries on six continents.

Click on the video below to watch a demonstration.