Most people with major depression are treated with drugs. However, some people do not benefit from, or can’t tolerate, their prescribed depression drugs. Differences in people’s genes can contribute to differences in their body’s responses to drugs prescribed for depression. Testing a person’s genes can help predict which depression drugs and dosages are most likely to result in a good treatment response and have the lowest risk of bad side effects. This is called multi-gene pharmacogenomic testing.

This health technology assessment looked at how safe, effective, and cost-effective multi-gene pharmacogenomic testing that includes decision-support tools is for people with major depression. It also looked at the budget impact of publicly funding multi-gene pharmacogenomic testing that includes decision support tools, and it considered the experiences, preferences, and values of people with major depression.