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PEER technology personalizes depression pharmacotherapy, improves outcomes

Interim findings from an ongoing, 2-year, prospective, randomized trial suggest that Psychiatric Electroencephalography Evaluation Registry Interactive, or PEER Interactive, improved medication selection for depression.

“PEER is a physician outcome registry which utilizes quantitative electroencephalogram. PEER algorithms are derived from the PEER clinical registry, containing approximately 10,200 patient EEGs and 38,000 medication outcomes. The current trial builds on previous trials by including endpoints for suicidality and serious adverse events, which suggests PEER can be useful in minimizing treatment emergent side effects,” Dan V. Iosifescu, MD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and colleagues wrote.

To compare efficacy of PEER Interactive with the current standard of care for guiding medication selection in individuals with depression, researchers randomly assigned 150 patients receiving treatment at a military hospital to receive PEER-informed pharmacotherapy or treatment as usual.

Study participants who received PEER-recommended treatments exhibited significantly greater improvements in depression (P < .03) and PTSD scores (P < .04) and greater reduction in suicidal ideation (P < .002), compared with those who received treatment as usual.

“Mental disorders present a profound challenge for the general population. It is imperative to validate clinical practices and technologies to improve the prescription accuracy of psychotropic medications. The interim analysis demonstrated robust early findings with statistical significance for 10 of 12 endpoints including physician and patient-reported treatment efficacy, suicidality, and was approaching statistical significance for its final endpoint when halted,” the researchers wrote. “Results were consistent with previous randomized controlled trials, suggesting that an objective, evidence-based prescribing tool such as PEER Interactive can help clinicians meet this challenge.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: Iosifescu reports receiving research funding through Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai from Alkermes, AstraZeneca, Brainsway, Euthymics, Neosync, Roche and Shire; and serving as a consultant to Avanir, Axsome, CNS Response, INSYS Therapeutics, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Servier, and Sunovion. Please see the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.